The Curse of the Goddess
by mayadidi
Summary: Hermione makes a strange new alliance, as she and her friends work to destroy Voldemort, she questions whether or not she can trust Snape. Eventually ssHG. rated for later chapters and language.
1. Chapter 1: First Contact

**The Curse of the Goddess**

Chapter 1: First Contact

Disclaimer: While I might wish I did, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or the Harry Potter Universe. They belong to J.K. Rowling and I will not be making any money from this…. I'm just taking some of my favourites out to play…

A/N: I want to profusely thank my beta's Saffron Angello and Brandy Schippers.

This story would be incomprehensible without them!

Hermione glanced at her computer screen when she heard the familiar 'ding' indicating that she had received an email. It was halfway through her summer hols after her fifth year and she had started spending more and more time online out of sheer boredom. She had finished her summer homework not three weeks after term had ended and she had not yet heard from Dumbledore about when she and Harry would join Ron at the Burrow. She idly wondered what would happen with number twelve Grimmauld Place now that Sirius was… She pushed that thought away before it was complete and opened her inbox to see who had sent her an email.

She had a few online Muggle friends she tried to keep in touch with during her breaks from Hogwarts. (They had all been informed that she was going to a boarding school in Switzerland.) She assumed it was one of them sending her a greeting.

She was sorely mistaken.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up to her hairline and she let out a surprised gasp when she saw the subject of the email: CONSTANT VIGILANCE.

'Constant vigilance' brought her back to her fourth year when the impostor Moody was teaching DADA. The subject line indicated that the sender was a wizard and probably one from Hogwarts, but she didn't know any wizards who were internet savvy. She looked at the email address to try and determine what this could mean; she felt a bit apprehensive about receiving such an unexpected email. The senders name was listed as _PPGreenwoman._ _Well that doesn't really give me any clue_, Hermione thought in exasperation. Questions raced through her mind as she opened the body of the email, reminding herself that hexes could not be sent over the internet and that there was no magical equivalent of a computer virus.

_To: HWwitchgurl _

_From: PPgreenwoman_

_Subject: CONSTANT VIGILANCE_

_You have no reason to trust me, but you must. I am what you are and learn what you do. Need help. I am not of DE. Please meet me. I will be Waiting at the Room close to where the learning starts. Come in time to put a stopper in death._

_Serpente verde._

Hermione was shocked This was not what she had expected and frankly, she had no idea what she should do. The message was a code of sorts – that much was obvious. As in everything else she did, Hermione was systematic and logical when she worked on puzzles or codes and most of this was pretty easy to figure out. She first thought about what she could make sense of at the outset of reading the message. The fact that she had received the email at all implied that the sender was half-blood or Muggle-born; _greenwoman_' and '_serpente verde'_ could only be a reference to a Slytherin and since no Muggle-born would be admitted into that House, that left a half-blood witch.

The passage '_Not of DE_' was plain as well. DE would be an acronym for Death Eater.

However, the rest was more confusing. She recognized the last phrase; _'put a stopper in death'_ was from Professor Snape's first year preamble, a speech she doubted she would ever forget. As if she was eleven years old again she clearly remembered sitting in the dungeon, wholly entranced by his silken voice, soft and menacing. So that part of the message could be an allusion to Potions, or it could be another Slytherin reference as Snape was their Head of House. Hermione made a mental note to come back to that.

'_Waiting at the Room close to where the learning starts.' _What could that signify? Hermione pondered on the sender's meaning for 'learning.' Magic was the obvious answer, but there must be more. Her brow furrowed in contemplation. Hogwarts is where they learned, but where did it start? Racking her brain, she recalled her first year, when she first began at Hogwarts. She had met Harry and Ron on the Hogwarts Express… a smile crossed her face as she thought back to that day. She had been helping Neville find Trevor when she had met the boys. Later they had teased her that she had been lecturing them in her bossy voice right from the start.

Hermione's eyes widened as the realization hit her. The train. King's Cross Station, platform nine and three quarters. Perhaps that was what her mysterious correspondence had meant by _'where the learning starts'_? Hermione's breathing became shallow with excitement as she quickly searched online for shops within 20 kilometres of King's Cross.

'Aha!' she exclaimed when she found it, clapping her hands together. _The Waiting Room _was a hotel and pub near King's Cross Station. She knew where to go now, but when? She read over the email again. The only part she hadn't figured out was that last bit: Snape's speech. Hermione mulled over what she had gathered. Snape, Potions… Slytherin and Gryffindor had Potions together. That could be the connection with Potions; perhaps this person had been in her Potions class last term…? She mentally sifted through her memories of last term's Potions classes but nothing came to mind. She thought about the Slytherins in her class, but she, Harry, and Ron had always done their best to avoid them whenever possible. She remembered how irritating it was to deal with Malfoy and his gang right after lunch while waiting in the corridor of the dungeons. Right after lunch… one o'clock, could that be it?Her face shone with a radiant smile as she realized that she had figured it out. She had always loved that feeling of satisfaction when she solved a particularly tricky riddle.

Seconds later, however, her face fell when she thought about what this message meant.Was she actually thinking of meeting this person? Someone whom she knew nothing about, and who she didn't know if she could trust—someone from Slytherin? It would be foolish to go; it was probably a trap. After the fiasco at the Ministry, Voldemort had been revealed and was again at large and dangerous. And as Hermione was known to be a close friend of Harry Potter, it was most assuredly not a safe time to attend a clandestine meeting with a stranger whom she knew nothing about. She glanced at the email again, though she had already memorized the message.

'_Need help._' There was no way to sense emotion from an email, but Hermione imagined that she could sense desperation in those two words. The whole tone of the message seemed to imply danger. This person could have written something like '_come in time to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses_,' rather than the particular part of Snape's speech that they had chosen, _put a stopper in death_. Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as she re-read those words. Was someone's life in danger? Regardless of whom the email was from, could she ignore a plea for help?

As Hermione debated with herself, she could not help but picture her aforementioned Professor sneering in disdain how such brainless nobility was so very _Gryffindor._

Hermione didn't know how long she sat at her computer staring at the screen, pondering her options. She knew she couldn't ignore this email, but all the same, she wasn't foolish enough to walk blindly into a situation that could very well be a life-jeopardizing risk.

If it wasn't summertime, she could simply Disillusion herself and stroll into the pub unseen to find out who this mystery person was before showing herself, but she couldn't use magic without running the risk of being caught by the Ministry of Magic. _Well_, she thought as her lips quirked up in a triumphant smile, _perhaps I can't use magic but I can use Muggle means of disguising myself. _

Hermione went to her closet and started rummaging around. Her hair was her most distinctive feature so she would need to hide that. She found a baseball cap she had never worn (a cousin had bought it for her on a trip to America the previous summer). She hastily stuffed all of her hair up into the cap and found a pair of dark sunglasses. She changed into a non-descript pair of trousers and white tank top and considered her image in the mirror critically. The cap and sunglasses did well to hide her countenance and if she stayed out of direct light it would be difficult to discern who she was.

At the last minute she slipped on a light jacket and lightly taped her wand to her forearm. Restriction for Underage Wizardry or no, she would not go into this without her wand and she wanted to be able to reach it easily. Going into this without a wand would be ludicrous and the subject of the email reminded her of what Moody would say to her in a situation like this: Constant Vigilance.


	2. Chapter 2: A meeting and a Plan

**Chapter 2: Meetings and Plans**

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except for maybe the waitress who is watching cricket, but sadly she won't make me any money. Neither will anything else, no money for me, all ownership belongs to JK._

_AN: Thank you to my Beta's Saffron and Brandy! You girls are wonderful! Thanks Saffy for your wonderful suggestions and for finding the little holes in my plot!_

Hermione arrived at the pub thirty minutes before her mysterious meeting was supposed to take place. She walked towards the back and sat down at a table in the corner with a view of the doorway. Hermione just had time to order herself some tea before she saw a girl saunter in. Hermione blanched; she knew that saunter, and she knew that smug smile and that hard face, which belonged to none other than Pansy Parkinson. Pansy scanned the room quickly before finding Hermione and heading towards her table. Hermione slowly put her hands under the table and retrieved her wand from her sleeve. Perhaps coming here wasn't such a good idea after all.

'Granger,' Pansy said with a sneer as she approached Hermione's table. 'Glad you could make it… nice hat,' she said mockingly. 'I give you full credit for being cautious, but did you really think that stuffing your hair in a hat would be clever camouflage?'

'Parkinson, what are you doing here?' Hermione said, ignoring the taunts about her attempted disguise. As she spoke, she took off her sunglasses and hat, running her hands through her bushy hair. 'Why would you ever want to meet with _me_?'

Pansy's face became serious when she replied, 'I need your help, you were the only person I could think of to help me, and I think I'm in danger.'

'You think I would just help you blindly?' Hermione asked incredulously. 'Why would you want help from a Gryffindor and a Mudblood?' she asked scathingly.

'Granger, just hear me out, okay? Or would patience be asking too much from a Gryffindor?'

Hermione shook her head in confusion. 'I know your father is a Death Eater, aren't you supposed to follow in his footsteps? You can't be seen meeting with Mudbloods. How did you even know about email in the first place?'

Pansy sighed and signalled for the waiter. 'I guess I'm going to be here for a while, might as well get some tea,' she muttered.

After the waiter brought Pansy her tea, she looked up at Hermione as she nervously fiddled with her stir spoon. 'I will explain everything to you, but try not to interrupt. It will be easier if I can finish what I'm saying before answering questions.' Hermione nodded, she noticed that the usually collected Slytherin girl was acting nervous.

Pansy started, 'Well, to answer your question about email, I heard about internet cafes from Tracey Davis, a half-blood in Slytherin. She was helping one of the third years with a Muggle Studies project and I happened be close enough to hear what she had to say. I went to Muggle London and one of the people working at the café helped me. She looked up your email address and helped me to create my own so I could send you that message.

'Honestly, Granger,' she said when Hermione's eyebrows lifted in surprise, 'being a pureblood does not make me an idiot.' Hermione opened her mouth to reply to that but Pansy just held up her hand and continued. 'I need you to help me because I think my father has offered me up to serve the Dark Lord.'

Hermione gasped at Pansy's declaration and said in a near whisper, 'Offered you up? For what exactly?' Pansy shook her head, her mouth was down-turned and her brow was furrowed. I don't know. I overheard a conversation and don't have all the details but I know I'm going to be involved somehow.'

'Does this mean that you don't support Voldemort? Hermione asked in a cautious voice. This was an unusual conversation to be having with the daughter of a Death Eater. I thought you shared his views on Muggle-borns.'

Pansy sighed. 'You don't get it Granger, it doesn't matter what I believe. I don't care about Muggle-borns versus purebloods and all that nonsense. I've seen enough Muggle-borns who are smarter' –she nodded at Hermione- 'or more powerful than purebloods to know that it doesn't matter much who your parents are. I care about being on the side that wins. More importantly, I will not be used.'

Hermione was astonished by what Pansy said; she had always assumed Pansy felt the same as Malfoy in regards to Muggle-borns and purebloods. Hermione took a sip of her tea before replying to the other girl.

'I don't trust you, Pansy,' Hermione said slowly, 'but why don't you tell me about this conversation you overheard.' She thought she saw relief flash across Pansy's face before her trademark sneer was back in place as she started her story.

'This happened a couple weeks ago. I was at home and Draco's aunt, Bellatrix, came to see my father. I was walking down the hall to see if Draco came with her when I heard her say my name. She hadn't seen me yet, but my father brought her into his study and I couldn't hear anything else. So I ran to the elf hole to eavesdrop on their conversation…'

Hermione interrupted at this point. 'Elf hole? What's an elf hole?'

'There are small hallways and peepholes into all the rooms that the house elves use to move around in. That way they can move around without being seen,' Pansy replied. 'My nanny told me about them when I was a kid and my parents don't know that Ditty told me so I can always use them to spy or listen in on conversations when I need to.'

'You had a house elf for a nanny?' Hermione asked in surprise.

'Almost all pureblood families have a house elf for a nanny, Granger, and before you say anything else, can we avoid hearing about _Puke_ or _Hurl_ or whatever it is?' Hermione wanted to correct her about S.P.E.W. but she could tell that Pansy was running out of patience, so she stayed quiet.

'Anyways,' Pansy said once she had ascertained that Hermione was not going to say anything further, 'I went to the elf hole to listen in on their conversation…'

'_How could you object?' Bellatrix was saying when Pansy started listening. 'It is an honour that the Dark Lord has asked that your daughter assist him. If I had a child I would be proud to have them serve the Dark Lord. Besides, you know that Pansy is the only female of the right age to do this. She should be proud to be able to provide this service to her Lord!'_

_Conrad Parkinson was pacing the length of the study. 'I know it is an honour and Pansy will be happy to fulfil her duty- however, I worry about the reduction of her magic. Will it be a large percentage do you think?'_

_Bellatrix shook her head. 'Nonsense. She will be fine. Our Lord promises that it will be an insignificant amount of magic; she probably won't even notice the difference. You must stop worrying; there are more important things to consider. Now, we need to complete the research on Morgaine's Blessing before the Hogwarts school year begins, that's what I came to tell you. Snape' (her lip curled in disdain as she mentioned the Potions master) 'will need all the information so that he can help Pansy in her task. Our Lord said it would take Snape most of the first term to prepare at the very least, though how our Lord can trust Snape I don't know.'_

_When she said this Conrad held up his hands. 'You must not doubt the Dark Lord's judgment_, _B__ella,' he admonished. 'He knows best and if he trusts Snape, so must we. Macnair and Goyle have already started the research and should have everything ready in time. I will tell Pansy a fortnight prior to the start of term.' Bellatrix nodded in satisfaction and made ready to leave. 'Just make sure everything is ready, Conrad,' Bella said with just a hint of warning in her voice. 'This project is very important to our Lord's victory.'_

Hermione blanched after hearing Pansy's story. If all of this was true then Pansy's dad was expecting his daughter to work for Lord Voldemort during school next term. Pansy would be helping to end the free wizarding world. Hermione called up the image she had built up in her head, based on Harry's description. Her imagined Voldemort was complete with his red eyes, scaly skin, and slits for nostrils instead of a nose, and Hermione felt her chest tighten with fear.

Pansy took a deep breath and met Hermione's eyes. A serious look on her face in place of the arrogant sneer that Hermione was used to seeing on the other girl's face. 'You're one of the smartest witches I know, Granger, that's why I contacted you. I can't trust anyone from my own House, I wouldn't be sure of where their loyalties lay. Besides that, from what I have heard I think I need another female to help me. They seemed specific about this being a task for a girl of my age.'

Hermione was quiet as she thought over all that Pansy had said. She didn't know what to think about all this. On one hand, Pansy could very well be lying and trying to trick Hermione. Maybe trying to get her to give out information about the Order. As one of Harry's best friends, Hermione knew she was privy to more information than most students. On the other hand, if Pansy was telling the truth, she was in very real danger and could use Hermione's help. Hermione thought over the implications of what Pansy had heard. A project of Volemort's that was important to his victory, one that directly involved Pansy. _If I helped Pansy, would I have a chance to hinder Voldemort? _

'What do you expect me to do?' Hermione asked the other girl in exasperation. 'How could I help you? We don't even know the full dangers yet. That conversation you overheard was pretty vague.'

'Except that we know my magic could be reduced,' Pansy retorted vehemently. 'I told you what my father said, he is afraid of the reduction to my magic. I'm not doing anything that could make me less powerful!'

Hermione knew what Pansy meant. Magic becomes such a part of you that loosing any small bit of it seemed horrible. But, She still had some misgivings about all of this. Why should she trust Pansy?

'I didn't know it was possible for a witch to loose her power,' Hermione murmured thoughtfully.

'Oh, well, it's not that common or anything,' Pansy said in a casual voice. 'You hear of it happening every once in a while after a great tragedy, sadness, or shock. It can also be a risk when you mis-use your powers.'

'Mis-use, like if you use the Dark Arts?' Hermione asked.

'No, not just using the Dark Arts. Pansy rolled her eyes at Hermione's naïvete. I mean, lots of wizards use the Dark Arts and don't risk loosing their magic every time.' 'I don't really know a lot about it. I heard that all magic has a kind of echo that goes back into the witch or wizard who performed that magic. Like a counter reaction to the magical energy. If you can't handle the force of that echo it can damage your powers or something like that. I think it has a lot to do with the individual witch or wizard and how much power and control they have.'

Pansy's explanation stunned the other girl. In all her reading and study of the magical world, Hermione had never heard of this. She knew that she missed a lot by not having grown up as part of the magical world. It occurred to her now that she could actually learn a lot by talking to a pureblood like Pansy. There was so much that you couldn't learn at Hogwarts.

'Okay, you want to prevent your magic from being reduced. I still don't know how_ I _can help. We don't even know what this project is, how can we fight it?'

Pansy ducked her head for a moment, thinking over what Hermione had said.

'I don't know exactly,' she said slowly, 'but you _can_ help me. You're smart and you know how to fight for one thing; I know you were part of that club last year and I read about you being at the Ministry fighting Death Eaters.'

Hermione felt a wave of sadness wash over her at the mention of the fight in the Department of Mysteries. She didn't like to think of that night. It must have shown on her face because Pansy mumbled, 'Sorry.'

'Its okay,' Hermione said softly as she shook her head. She took a deep breath before continuing. 'Well, I do know how to fight and we learned loads of spells and hexes last year... I can teach you all of that, but I don't know if that will help. We can't use defensive spells to prevent a loss of your magic.' Hermione thought about the conversation between Bellatrix Lestrange and Pansy's father. 'I think that we will need to research this 'Morgaine's Blessing' that Bellatrix talked about, for some reason that name seems familiar to me. Once we know what Voldemort's plan is, the easier we can fight it or prevent you from being used in it.'

'You'll help me then?' Pansy asked cautiously. 'You'll help me research this and think of a way to keep me out of it?' Hermione noticed that Pansy said this without a trace of the usual arrogance.

'I don't know if I trust you yet, Parkinson,' Hermione warned. 'I will help you research this summer, but I won't commit myself to anything yet. Once we are back in school we will have to decide.'

Pansy nodded her head once and grimaced. 'I understand, Granger. It's not like I want to trust you either. Believe me, I'm not imagining slumber parties and makeovers.'

'What about telling a professor once we are back in school?' Hermione asked.

'No!' Pansy said quickly. 'There is no way — I don't trust any of the professors. It could get back to Snape.' Hermione raised her eyebrows at this. The Slytherins had always been loyal to their Head of House. 'Granger, you may not have realized it but Snape is a Death Eater. He may have fooled the headmaster and everyone else at Hogwarts but I know for a fact that he is working with the Dark Lord. I told you what Bellatrix said; the Dark Lord plans on having Snape assist me on this. We will need to careful around him.'

Hermione was quiet at this. She knew that Snape was working for Dumbledore as a spy but she couldn't tell Pansy about that, there was no way she would ever trust the Slytherin girl that much.

'Well, okay, not Snape, but what about the headmaster or Professor McGonagall?' Hermione offered.

Pansy was already shaking her head before Hermione had finished. 'No professors, Granger.' She was quiet for a minute and then she looked right into Hermione's eyes. 'Granger, I need you to promise me you won't tell anyone about this. No professors and not your little boyfriends either.'

Hermione pondered on Pansy's demand. She honestly hadn't given Harry or Ron a second thought, for knew it wouldn't be a good idea telling them. They were so prejudiced against anyone in Slytherin that she knew they would never be convinced to help with this. Hermione looked at Pansy and nodded.

'I promise not to tell anyone else, Pansy.'

Pansy was still looking Hermione directly in the eyes and Hermione felt something… _push_ in her mind. Hermione gasped and quickly closed her eyes, remembering what Harry had told her about his Occlumency lessons with Snape, that eye contact was necessary for most Legilimens.

'Did you just use Legilimency on me!?' she exclaimed in surprise.

Pansy shrugged, 'I needed to make sure you were telling the truth, I didn't think you would notice.'

Hermione's mind was racing as she thought of a million questions she could ask Pansy about Legilimency.

'Pansy, if I help you with all of this, would you teach me Legilimency and Occlumency?' Pansy's mouth split into a wide, calculating smile in response to Hermione's proposition.

'Well, Granger,' Pansy said, 'I guess we could work out a trade here. You help me on this and I will teach you what I know about Legilimency and Occlumency. Bellatrix has been teaching Draco and me all summer. She says that Dumbledore is a great Legilimens and we need to guard against him. I'm not an expert or anything but I'd wager I know a lot more than you do'

Hermione considered what Pansy had said. She had wanted to learn Occlumency and Legilimency ever since Harry had told her about his lessons. Trusting Pansy Parkinson was still quite a risk. Pansy and her gang of Slytherin girls had teased and bullied Hermione since her first year. Could she just forgive and forget the last five years and start working with Pansy? And yet, Hermione didn't think she could resist the allure of what Pansy was promising to teach her.

After observing Pansy for another moment, Hermione nodded. 'It's a deal. I'll help you if you teach me.'

For the first time, Hermione saw a genuinely happy smile on Pansy's face. It softened Pansy's features and made her look pleasant and friendly. Hermione couldn't help but smile back as she held out her hand. Pansy grasped it and shook it firmly. For just a second, it looked to Hermione as if their hands glowed as were clasped together. She felt a frisson of… _something_ shiver up her spine. She dropped Pansy's hand quickly and looked up at her. Pansy had a startled look on her face and she was looking at her hand.

Hermione cleared her throat to cover up her confusion. 'I guess we need to figure out what we do first.'

Pansy seemed just as willing to ignore what may or may not have just happened and she nodded her head in agreement.

'I guess we should spend the summer researching this Morgaine's Blessing, that Bellatrix mentioned,' Pansy suggested. 'We need to know what this project is by the time school starts.'

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip absently as she contemplated what needed to be done. 'How about I research Morgaine? I am sure I have heard that name before. Parki-- Pansy, you could research feminine magics. Bellatrix mentioned that this project could only be accomplished by a girl of our age. There must be something significant about that.'

'You're probably right. My father has a really big library and I can have the house elves get me any books I need without him knowing about it. I'm sure he has some stuff about ancient feminine magics.'

Hermione let her mind revel for just a moment on what it would be like to have access to an old pureblood family's library before she responded. 'How will we get in touch with each other if we discover anything significant? We need to make sure we are both on the same page.'

'Well,' Pansy said, 'I guess we can send owls in an emergency, except they will need to be written in code. My family cannot see me receiving owls from a Mud—Muggle-born, they would be too suspicious.'

Hermione nodded as she inwardly smiled at Pansy's self-correction. 'We will have to work out a code for the owl letters, and we will need to get together as soon as school starts.'

'That's another problem,' Pansy said and sighed. 'It's not like we can be seen together at school. Nobody would believe it. Can you imagine how people would react?' she said with a smile.

Hermione laughed. She tried to envision what the rest of the school would do if Hermione and Pansy walked into the great hall together chatting like old friends. 'You're right; we will need to meet in secret.' The Gryffindor witch drummed her fingers on the table top as she thought about the ideal spot.

'Of course. We could meet at the Room of Requirement,' she said with a smile.

Pansy looked at her blankly.

'Remember where the Inquisitorial Squad found out about our meetings last year? You know, that club that we were all in.' Hermione said, referring to Dumbledore's Army.

Pansy smiled slyly in memory at this and nodded.

'The D.A. always met in the Room of Requirement. It's on the seventh floor across from the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. You walk in front of it three times and think about what you want and a door will appear. The room can be whatever you need it to be.'

'Brilliant!' Pansy said with a wicked grin that made Hermione wonder what Pansy would require out of the room if given a chance.

There was a brief pause before Pansy spoke again 'I obviously can't meet you over the summer, Granger, so we will have to do your Legilimency lessons when school starts.'

Hermione nodded. 'I know. We can use the Room of Requirement for those as well. I haven't forgotten.'

'Before I waste too much of my time teaching you what you already know, why don't you tell me what you know about Legilimency and Occlumency?' Pansy asked.

Hermione told Pansy everything that Harry had told her about his lessons with Snape.

Pansy smirked. 'Well you have the basics down, you essentially just need to learn how to control your mind, and it just takes practice. You can start by clearing your mind of all thought and emotion every night before you go to bed.' Pansy's instructions reminded Hermione of Harry telling her and Ron that Snape had demanded the same thing during his lessons.

While Hermione had been thinking back to Harry's lessons last year, Pansy had gone quiet and seemed to be deep in thought. She slowly looked around the pub. The girls had been there for almost an hour now and seeing as it was almost 2:00, it was almost empty except for a one other patron, the lunch hour rush being long over. The bartender and the waitress stood behind the bar watching a cricket match on the telly.

'Granger, we have been here for a while. I should probably be getting back soon, what else do we need to do?'

'Well, we each have our parts of the research, I will work on Morgaine's Blessing and you take feminine magics. We just need to work out a code of sorts in case we need to communicate with each other.'

Their heads bent towards each other as they talked about what they could use for code words. Twenty minutes later, Pansy stood up looking around the pub as she pushed her chair in. 'I need to get back. As it is I have been gone for a long time, my family thinks I'm in Diagon Alley with Millie Bulstrode and I wasn't supposed to be out for too long.'

Hermione nodded. 'Okay, Well...er, be careful and let me know if you find anything.' Pansy nodded at this and smirked before turning to leave.

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_AN: Please review! Stay tuned for next chapter with a little Snape!_


	3. Chapter 3: Chocolate and Sandalwood

**Chapter 3: Chocolate and Sandalwood**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything and have not made any money off of this. _

_A/N: so far this chapter has not been beta'd so bear with me! _

_ yes, we have a Snape sighting below! I just couldn't leave him out of it anymore._

It had been two days since Hermione's meeting with Pansy and she hadn't gotten anywhere in her research. Hermione sighed in frustration, she had been eager to begin her research right away, but had forgotten that she wouldn't have the Hogwarts library at her disposal. Hermione had put together a small library of sorts over the past five years since she had entered the wizarding world, but she didn't have anything that could help her. She sat on the floor with her wizarding books strewn around her and admitted defeat, she didn't have the resources for the kind of research she was trying to undertake. As Hermione sat on her bedroom floor considering what her next step might be, her mother knocked once upon her door and entered to find Hermione still on the floor with her books.

'Honey, what are you doing?' Karen Granger asked in surprise.

'Hi Mum, I'm trying to do some research but it's hopeless!' Hermione complained.

'I thought you already finished your summer coursework,' Karen answered.

Hermione started to put her books in a neat stack as she spoke with her mother.

'I did, I'm working on an independent project with a… friend of mine from school. The problem is that I am used to having the library at Hogwarts to work with, I just don't have the right books or the right information to get the research done.'

Karen Granger watched her daughter thoughtfully. Hermione had inherited Karen's thirst for knowledge and Karen understood how frustrated her daughter was right now. Once either one of the Granger women got started on something, they would pursue that line of thought single-mindedly. As a child, whenever Hermione had a question about something her parents encouraged her to find answers on her own and so much of her time growing up was spent 'researching' with her parents.

'Dear, you could order some books from that bookstore in Diagon Alley.' Karen suggested, trying to come up with a solution.

'I could, if I knew what I was looking for, all I have is a name to go on, and I don't know which books I would need.' Hermione answered in a tired voice.

'A name? You're doing research based on a name?' Karen asked, feeling a spark of interest. 'Is it a wizard's name?'

'Hmm, well actually, mum, I'm not sure, it's probably a wizard. A friend of mine from school overheard a conversation in which the name was mentioned and we got curious.' Hermione answered, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want her mom to find out exactly what she may be getting involved with. She had told her parents about Voldemort and the current troubles in the wizarding world and she didn't want her parents to worry about her.

'Mum, have you ever heard the name Morgaine? I thought it sounded familiar when I heard it.' Hermione said, thinking at this point she would try anything.

'Morgaine?' Karen asked in surprise. 'As in the Sorceress in the legend of Camelot and King Arthur and Merlin?'

Hermione's mouth dropped open in surprise.

'Of course!' Hermione said, 'I knew it sounded familiar!' She had read the story of Camelot in Primary School, that's why the name was familiar.

'Wait,' Karen said holding up one of her hands, 'They are real! I thought it was just a story!' She said, getting excited now. She was fascinated with this world that Hermione had entered and loved learning about things such as this.

Hermione was shaking her head, 'I don't know how much is truth, but I know that Merlin was a real wizard, one of the most powerful in history, actually.' Hermione answered.

'Mum, I need to go to the library and research the muggle version of the legend; it will give me somewhere to start in my research.' Hermione said, excited that she now had something to go on.

'Hermione,' Karen said in a teasing voice. 'Have you forgotten about the existence of the internet?' She said as she gestured to the laptop sitting on Hermione's desk.

Hermione's eyes widened and she hit herself softly on the forehead.

'Of course, the internet has everything, probably even some wizarding information! I'm so used to using books and libraries during school that I forgot all about using it for research.' As she spoke, Hermione was opening her computer and logging on. Karen smiled as her daughter started muttering to herself, already deep into research mode.

'I'll leave you to it, Dear; try to remember to take a break for dinner later on tonight.' Karen said teasingly as she left her daughters room.

Three hours later, Hermione looked up from her computer, feeling a slight twinge in her neck. She felt like she knew almost everything she could know about Morgaine from a muggles perspective. In the stories about King Arthur, Morgaine was an evil sorceress, sister to Arthur, who eventually helped to destroy the Kingdom of Camelot. Hermione wondered if Morgaine had invented some dark magic which Voldemort was planning to make Pansy do. Hermione had learned that when it came to the muggle legends about wizards, it was hit or miss. Some legends were surprisingly accurate but some were plainly ridiculous (she thought about the wicked witch in the wizard of oz).

The stories about Morgaine matched a lot of the information that Hermione knew to be true about Merlin and his account of the events, but she was still skeptical. She knew that if they were true, if Morgaine was truly an evil sorceress, than Voldemort had some powerful dark magic to draw from. The accounts Hermione had read painted Morgaine in a terrible light. Almost from childhood the witch manipulated the people around her including her brother, the future king. Morgaine was trained in the order of Avalon and her teacher was apparently the 'Lady of the Lake' who, the legend told, created Excalibur for Arthur. The order of Avalon was an order for witches who worshipped the Goddess Mother who had created the world. Witches from the order were said to be very powerful. The legend says that Morgaine eventually turned against the teachings of Avalon and used her powers to seduce Arthur and later raise their son to take down Arthur's Kingdom. Morgaine was said to have fought against Merlin himself.

Hermione did find a few websites that told of the legend from the opposite perspective and put Morgaine as a good witch who was caught up in the events around her. Hermione found herself doubting the truth of these websites, it wouldn't be logical for Voldemort to be researching a witch who was on the side of light. He would be looking for dark magic to bring about his victory. Hermione printed out both sets of information and hoped that she would be able to find some books on the subject when she was next in Diagon Alley.

The same day that Hermione had met with Pansy in London, an owl had arrived from The Burrow. Ron was inviting her to come in one week's time and stay at the Burrow for the remainder of the summer, Harry would also be coming. So, it was a week later that Hermione stood outside the Leaky Cauldron saying goodbye to her parents and promising to send a letter at least once a week. Hermione had asked her parents to drop her at the Leaky Cauldron early that morning so that she could look for some more books before she needed to floo to the Burrow at noon.

After greeting Tom and asking him to stow her trunk and a very disgruntled Crookshanks in his carrier behind the bar, Hermione made her way to Diagon Alley.

As soon as Hermione stepped through the bricks, she noticed the difference. The Leaky Cauldron had been empty but that wasn't too unusual for this time in the morning, now Hermione realized the quiet stillness at the Leaky Cauldron existed along Diagon Alley as well. Diagon Alley was no longer the bustling, busy street that Hermione remembered as being one of her first views into the wizarding world. The street was silent and the people who were there moved quickly about their business, not stopping to chat or linger any longer than necessary. Almost every window was plastered with purple ministry posters or pictures of death eaters who had escaped Azkaban. As Hermione passed by a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange looking around and sneering, the young witch suppressed a shudder as she thought of the fact that Bellatrix had just recently been in Pansy's home

Hermione quickened her pace in reaction to the eerie silence of Diagon Alley and headed into Flourish and Blotts. Every year Hogwarts students bought their text books from Flourish and Blotts so Hermione was familiar with the bookstore and let herself wander a little and enjoy looking at all the different books. An hour later, Hermione hadn't made any progress finding books that would aid in her research, but she did end up purchasing a new potions text and the latest issue of _Transfiguration Today_.

Hermione left Flourish and Blotts, her book bag now a little heavier with her new purchases inside and she headed down Diagon Alley. She felt a bit uncomfortable walking alone down the now silent street but she was hoping to find another bookstore that she might have more luck at. Hermione had been walking down the street for a few minutes now and was about to turn back around when she saw it. It was a small shop, near the corner of Knockturn Alley that seemed to be shoved between two larger buildings, it had no ministry posters or displays in the window, just a small sign that said '_Books_' hanging above the door. Hermione felt a little apprehensive but decided to check it out, she could just barely see stacks of books through the dusty window. She warily stepped up to the store and pushed the door open.

As soon as she stepped inside, Hermione's apprehension was forgotten. She stood in the entrance transfixed with what she saw. Books, everywhere she looked. There were books stacked precariously on the floor, on tables and chairs; every flat surface in the room was covered in books. There were high shelves bulging with books in no apparent order. There were even books lying on top of the shelves. The books of this shop weren't the shiny, flashy books like one would find in Flourish and Blotts. These were obviously old, used books, dusty and bound with battered leather with faded titles printed on the spines. To Hermione, this was heaven. She inhaled deeply, loving that smell of old leather and parchment. Her face broke out into a wide smile as she moved toward the first shelf and started to look around.

Hermione was looking so intently at the wonders before her that she jerked in surprise when someone addressed her.

'Well, what do we have here?' A silky voice said behind her. Hermione turned in surprise to see Professor Snape standing rather close behind her. She tilted her head back to look him in the eyes.

'Professor Snape!' She said in surprise. 'Er… Hello.'

'Ms. Granger,' Severus said, inclining his had in greeting. 'I see you have just discovered Yosh's little shop here.'

'Oh yes, sir, it's fantastic! I mean… I've only ever been in Flourish and Blotts, but this is much better. I feel as if I could find anything I needed here.'

'Yes, well, if you have the time and patience to deal with the complete chaos Mr. Yosh leaves this place in, you can find some very interesting reads.' Snape answered her scowling as he looked around at the jumbled stacks of books.

It occurred to Hermione then that she had never had a conversation with Professor Snape outside of the potions classroom. Usually, the most conversation they had consisted of him taking points from Gryffindor or giving out detentions. Out of all the teachers at Hogwarts, Hermione knew Snape the least and all of a sudden she felt a desire to get to know him better. He obviously appreciated books as much as she did. She looked at him, standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, wearing his customary black robes. She noticed then that he was holding a few books in his hand.

'What books did you find Sir?' She asked gesturing towards his books.

He looked down at them and then reluctantly held his books out to her.

'It's really none of your business Ms. Granger but I know you can't resist the allure of the written word.'

As he leaned in to hand her his books, Hermione could smell his light fragrance of chocolate and sandalwood. For a brief second she thought about how chocolate seemed an unusual scent for her Potions Master. She somehow had always imagined he would smell of common potions ingredients such as fluxweed or aconite. Hermione quickly dropped that line of thought, _what does it matter if Snape smells like chocolate, I shouldn't be noticing!_ She thought to herself, but she let herself inhale the chocolate smell once more as she held out her hands for his books.

Hermione took his books and looked them over; they were all bound in black leather and extremely old. The thickest book was called '_The Curse of Avalon'_ and Hermione had to fight to keep her face blank, _Professor Snape was researching for Voldemorts project! _He also had a book called _'A Witches Magic'_ and _'Communicative Theory_.' But Hermione was interested in the largest tome about Avalon; she needed to find a copy of that book! She turned each book over once and couldn't resist opening up the largest to look at the pages inside.

'If I could have my books back, Ms. Granger, before you get too caught up.' Snape's voice, low and soft, interrupted her thoughts.

'Oh! Sorry Sir, they look so interesting. Were you looking for something particular today?' She asked, keeping her voice casual.

If possible, Snapes scowl became more pronounced as he looked down his large nose at her, it was then Hermione noticed that rather than his greasy hair falling forward to frame his face, Professor Snape had it bound back at the nape of his neck. His eyes appeared even darker and more piercing without his hair surrounding his lean face. The silence stretched out for one more moment as he looked at her and she held her breath as his eyes raked over her.

'No, nothing particular,' he finally answered in a curt voice, startling her after that long silence.' If you will excuse me Ms. Granger, I must be going.' Before Hermione could reply, he had already moved away from her towards the counter in the front of the shop. It was then that she noticed the man sitting behind the counter, silently reading. Hermione watched as Snape made his purchases and left the store, his robes trailing behind him.

After waiting a few minutes to make sure Professor Snape was gone, Hermione took out a quill and wrote the names of his books down. She needed to get her hands on the one about Avalon. She approached the man at the counter, assuming he was the owner of the shop.

As soon as Snape had made his purchases this man had gone back to a book he was reading and hadn't looked up since. Hermione cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up with an irritated grimace on his face; clearly he didn't want to be distracted from his book again.

'Hi, my name I Hermione Granger, I'm one of Professor Snape's students.' She said, gesturing to the door that the Professor had just exited.

Hermione guessed the man to be close to forty years old. He was slim and had messy brown hair and a scruffy goatee. He wore a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles that lent him a scholarly air. He rolled his eyes in response to her introduction.

'Why would that concern me?' He said in an arrogant voice that reminded Hermione of Draco Malfoy.

'Er… I was just wondering if you had anymore books like the one the Professor got.' Hermione said uncertainly, trying to ignore his rudeness.

'We don't have copies here, you should go to Flourish and Blotts if that is what you are after.' He answered, after closing his book with a snap.

Hermione sighed, 'Hmm, He showed me his books and they just looked so interesting. I liked the look of that one about Avalon especially Mr….' She said, trying to get him to introduce himself.

He looked at her impassively for a second before answering. 'Mathius Yosh. I may have something for you. He stood up and she realized that while he was very lean, he wasn't too much taller than she was. He skirted around the counter and walked briskly towards the back of the room. Hermione assumed he meant for her to follow. He walked straight towards a stack of books in the back corner of the room and pulled out the third book from the bottom. She was amazed that he seemed to know exactly where a specific book was in the general mess of books.

He handed her the rather thick volume and said, '_The Curse of the Goddess_ is about a witch from Avalon.'

After saying that he headed back towards his seat at the counter, opened his book and was engrossed once again. Hermione looked at the book in her hands and gasped. The title _The Curse of the Goddess_ was changing before her eyes. The words seemed to dissolve and a new title appeared. The book was now entitled _The Blessings of a Witch_.

Hermione's mouth was open in a small 'o' of surprise. She wondered if Mr. Yosh knew the book would do this. She walked towards the counter and set the book on the counter in front of him.

'I'll take this one, please, Mr. Yosh.' She hesitated for a minute as he put his book down and picked up a ledger and a quill to record the sale.

'Um… What's the book called again?' She said, knowing how stupid the question sounded. He looked at her incredulously and put his finger under the title.

'The. Curse. Of . The . Goddess.' He said in a mocking voice. 'You can read, right?'

She nodded in response but was looking down at the book where his finger had been. She could still see _The Blessings of a Witch_, but he obviously couldn't see that the words had changed. She handed him her money, said thank you for the book and got out of there fast.

This book was special. She couldn't believe her luck that she had found an enchanted book that was about Avalon. She was sure that this would be what she needed for her research. She couldn't wait to start reading. Hermione looked at her watch and groaned. She picked up her pace and headed back towards the Leaky Cauldron. The Weasley's would be expecting her. Harry and Ron were not going to let her sneak away and read, they would insist she play Quidditch with them and '_have fun for a change_.'

Professor Snape clutched his new books tightly in his hands as he walked hurriedly out of Yosh's bookshop. He couldn't believe he had run into the Granger girl here of all places. He wasn't surprised that she had found the store, the 'brain' of the dream team was well known for her affection for reading. He couldn't count the number of times he had seen her walking in the hallways of Hogwarts with her nose stuck in a book, not paying attention to where she was going. It usually gave him license to take away a good number of points.

Severus sighed; she had been utterly fascinated and had stood in the entrance of the shop for a full minute staring at the books. He had felt the same way when he had first discovered Yosh's bookshop, and he understood the way she felt.

Snape assumed that was why he let himself get caught up in a conversation with the girl. Normally he would dismiss her without even a greeting, but the temptation to talk with someone who understood his passion for books was overwhelming. He probably would have stayed longer if she hadn't asked about his books and reminded him of why he had gone to Yosh's in the first place.

Snape sighed as he thought about last night. He had been summoned by Voldemort and assigned a research project. Voldemort had ordered Snape to take over when the Dark Lord realized that Goyle Sr. wasn't the right man for the job. Severus smirked at the thought of Goyle Sr. doing research. Sometimes Voldemort could be pretty thick, _can Goyle even read_? Snape thought to himself.

So, Voldemort had summoned Snape and told him to find out as much as he possibly could about Avalon and the witch Morgaine.

Severus wondered what Voldemort was up to now. More often than not, the Dark Lord had just been leading his Death Eaters in quick raids ending in death and destruction. Death and destruction are easy enough to plan and people tended to forget how intelligent and shrewd Tom Riddle could be. At Hogwarts, Tom Riddle had achieved top marks, rivaled only by Ms. Granger herself. It worried Snape more to think that Riddle could be using his considerable brain power and planning something.

Up until a few weeks ago, Snape had been enjoying his summer. He had only been summoned once right after the debacle at the Department of Mysteries. After that Wormtail moved in and they were both left alone for a number of weeks.

Snape knew that Wormtail was spying on him and the shuffling, whiney little rodent was irritating to say the least. The company of the annoying little rat was preferable to suffering crucio from Voldemort and Snape had enjoyed his reprieve. He had caught up on some much needed sleep and even put on a few pounds after the stressful school year had left him feeling like a skeleton with skin.

His peace had only been broken when Dumbledore had flooed him just days ago in desperate need of a potion. Snape grimaced at this thought. He had brewed the potion for Dumbledore and it had served its purpose, but it wasn't enough.

Both Severus and Albus both knew the potion wasn't a cure. Dumbledore had been hit with a terminal curse when he had attempted to destroy one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. All Snape could do was slow the process of the curse. Dumbledore had a year at best unless they discovered a cure.

'_Fuck!'_ Snape cursed under his breath. Instead of finding a cure to save his best friends life, he was stuck doing research for Voldemort. His hands tightened convulsively around his books as he came to a stop near the entrance into the Leaky Cauldron, he hated feeling so helpless. Voldemort had just told him to look up information about Avalon and the witch Morgaine, he was also told to research virginal and feminine magic. Another thing to stress about, Snape thought grimly; Voldemort was getting suspicious. Usually the Dark Lord would confide in Snape about his plans, but lately…Severus didn't want to think about what would happen if his treachery was discovered.

The Potions Master sighed; he needed to go report to Dumbledore about this research. Maybe Dumbledore could figure out where Voldemort was going with this Avalon business. With a scowl on his face, Snape disapparated.

Seconds later he re-appeared in the outskirts of the forbidden forest and looked up at the castle he now thought of as home. Severus sighed and walked towards the familiar gates of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

_A/N: Please review! If you can get past the horrible grammer mistakes that have not been beta'd out yet, let me know what you think of the story so far! I'll try to post faster if you do…_


	4. Chapter 4: Phlegm and Wheezes

**Chapter 4: Phlegm and Wheezes.**

AN: See disclaimer in previous chapters.

AN: This story is not beta'd yet so don't read it if you will be disturbed by bad grammer or just plain old confusion! A special thanks to my beta's Brandy and Saffy, who are working hard to keep up with my chapters! you girls are awesome!

_I've decided it is time I recorded my experiences and thoughts. Before my mind becomes dim with age, as men are telling tales and twisting history, I must tell the truth. I must give an accurate account of what has happened. _

_What I know, what I have seen, these are the reasons I have been exhiled. After a full life, I have finally been left in the mist, to end my days alone. I am a powerful witch, I shall not be modest about what I know is truth. Therefore, my knowledge must not be given to just anyone. _

_As I write this, I am devising the enchantments that will protect my stories. Only the worthy will gain the gift of my wisdom and experiences. If you are reading this now, you are worthy. You are my sister of the heart and you will know what to do with what you have. _

_I am going to tell you about the Power of women. Make no mistake, sister, women hold more power than men. The world was created by a goddess, a woman, and we hold her secrets within our hearts. In my lifetime, I bonded with many women, we became sisters by blood and by love. I also battled women, we became bitter enemies, bonded by tears and pain. _

_I will start by telling you my sister of my training. I was trained by a woman and with other women in the mists of Avalon. The order of Avalon is extinct now, no more girls will be trained in the sacred order. No more girls will learn the ancient ways. Even from my exhile, I see the belief in the old magics fading in front of me. A woman finds her power in many things, but one is more potent than the rest. Her Voice. _

_Women communicate through speech, we talk about our feelings, we are eloquent and expressive. We tell our stories and we listen to our sisters and lend them our strength. Men loose so much by their show of strength. They close themselves up and their stories get lost. This was the first lesson I learned in Avalon. I began my training at the age of eight..._

**_Excerpt from 'The Blessings of a Witch.'_**

Hermione arrived at the Burrow in the early afternoon. Harry had not yet arrived but they were told that Dumbledore would be collecting him the next morning. Hermione had arrived in time for lunch which conveniently gave Mrs. Weasley the chance to comment on how skinny the girl had gotten and how it wasn't attractive for girls to be just skin and bone. Ginny grinned and winked at Hermione across the table as a plate heaped high with food was placed in front of her. After saying his hello's Ron had already become engrossed in his lunch. Hermione smiled with affection as she watched his single minded attack of his lunch, it was so characteristic of Ron that it had _almost _become endearing. After lunch, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had wandered out in the garden to enjoy the sun and watch Crookshanks chase after the gnomes. They had been there for about half an hour when all of a sudden Ginny started muttering under her breath. Hermione looked at her in surprise, raising her eyebrows.

'Don't look now, Mione, but we are about to be mired in phlegm!' Ginny said in a disgruntled voice.

'Ah, Come on Gin, she isn't that bad!' Ron answered.

'What are you …?' Hermione started to ask, curious as to what they were talking about.

A beautiful blond was walking gracefully towards them and spoke before Hermione could finish her sentence.

'Ah Theere ewe are! Molly is looking for you Geeny! We must deescuzz thee wedding plans!'

Hermione's mouth opened in a round 'o' of surprise as Fleur Delacour stood waiting for Ginny to go back to the house with her. She looked down her nose at Hermione and seemed to dismiss her on sight. Hermione looked over at Ron and noticed he had adopted a rather silly smile and had eyes only for Fleur. Hermione decided that Phlegm was definitely a fitting name for the Frenchwoman.

'Fleur started working at Gringotts to 'eemprove her Eenglishz' and she and Bill are now engaged.' Ginny said in a dull voice, as she stood up and brushed off her trousers. She rolled her eyes and started to follow Fleur back into the house.

'Honestly Ronald! Get a hold of yourself!' Hermione said when she noticed his silly smile was still in place. 'I'm going to go do some reading.' She said as she stood up and also walked back towards the Burrow, feeling just a tinge of jealousy. She heard Ron call to her but decided not to bother, she was eager to begin her new book and right now would be a good opportunity, before Harry arrived.

Hermione settled in on her bed in Ginny's room and took her book out of her satchel. She smiled as she noticed that the title still said 'The Blessings of a Witch' across the top. She opened it up and began to read about the life of Morgaine.

Hermione was instantly engrossed in her book and spent the rest of the afternoon reading in Ginny's room, only putting it down reluctantly when Mrs. Weasley called that dinner was ready. Hermione marked her place in the book and got up to join the others, she had read about 100 pages so far and she already knew she would need to contact Pansy.

Right after dinner, Hermione asked Ron if she could use Pig for a quick message to her parents. She got out a quill and wrote her note.

_Hey Girl,_

_I hope your summer hols are going good. I went on holiday with my family. We took a Portkey to India and saw some really great stuff. The magical world is so advanced in that part of the world, I learned a ton of glamour spells that I can't wait to try. I will teach you some when I see you next. _

_The Blessings of Vivianne be with you!_

_DG_

Hermione sealed the note and tied it on to Pig who immediately zipped around the room a few times in excitement before flying out of the window. She was confident that Pansy would know what to do according to the code they had worked out. The Goddess blessing at the letter confirmed that it was from Hermione, just in case Daphne Greengrass decided to OWL Pansy. Pansy would know to send a note to Hermione about when she would be in Diagon Alley getting her school supplies, they would try to meet at that time.

Harry had arrived early the next morning, and with him their OWL results arrived from Hogwarts. For the first time since that fateful meeting with Pansy, Hermione focused entirely on something else. She breathed a sigh of relief when she received her results. She had gotten all of her OWLs. She frowned at her DADA score (she only received an E rather than an O) but decided that she would just need to work harder for her NEWTs. Harry had met their new DADA professor the night before with Dumbledore and he thought the class would be okay… better than Umbridge's classes at any rate.

For the next couple of weeks were relaxing and uneventful. After he first arrived, Harry, Ron, and Ginny had forced Hermione to stop reading and she was forced to participate in a number of Quidditch matches. The three quickly changed their minds after they realized how truly terrible she was at the game. Hermione knew she was a hazard on a broom and breathed a sigh of relief when she was allowed to go back to her reading. So, for the rest of the summer, Harry, Ginny, and Ron played Quidditch while Hermione sat in the gardens with her book and read.

Because she had promised to not tell anyone about what she was doing, she put a fake cover on her book. Everyone thought that Hermione had become engrossed in Advanced Rune Translation, when in reality she was reading _The Blessings of a Witch_. The book was actually a journal of sorts. Hermione knew from the first page of the book that she had been meant to find it. She normally didn't believe in fate or destiny, but it was like Morgaine was writing to her, that's why she could see the true title. Hermione knew this book could help her and Pansy.

Morgaine wrote about her life and her experiences primarily. Throughout her story, she also included pertinent spells, charms, and potions that she herself had utilized. Hermione was enthralled. Morgaine wrote a completely different perspective on the stories Hermione had read back at her parents' house online. What fascinated Hermione the most was what the witch had written about the Order of Avalon. Morgaine had begun her magical training on the island of Avalon at a very young age. She had learned ancient and powerful magic. Hermione knew that most of what Morgaine had learned had most likely been lost over the years. However, Morgaine had written down what she felt would be important to women in future generations. Hermione smiled when she read this, she was getting the chance to learn some of this ancient magic from the Order of Avalon. An order that only the most powerful and worthy witches had been a part of. She felt both empowered and humbled by the possibilities this could present.

Severus sat across a large desk, a cup of tea warming his hands as he waited for his mentor to speak. He had been surprised to find Narcissa Malfoy and her sister Bellatrix Lestrange at his doorstep last night and he had just filled his employer in on what the sisters had to say to him. Dumbledore was silent as he mulled over what his Potions Master had just told him.

Narcissa had begged for his help and Snape had entered into an unbreakable vow with her in order to prove his loyalty in front of Bellatrix and even wormtail who was undoubtedly eavesdropping. Snape sighed as he thought about the predicament he had gotten himself into. Using Legilimency, he had discerned what Narcissa was talking about when she mentioned what young Draco had been ordered to do by the Dark Lord. Malfoy's wife had never been a strong occlumens and she had been so distressed, she practically broadcasted her fears. So now, if Draco was not successful in assisinating the headmaster, Snape would need to choose between death and killing his best friend. There was no decision to make, Dumbledore was the only person who had shown complete faith in Snape, that was more important than his own miserable life.

He had already accepted that he would die before the end of this war, he saw it as being inevitable considering his role as a spy and double agent. However, accepting the fact was quite different from actually having a timeline on when that would happen. After Narcissa and Bellatrix has left his home, Snape had sat up and finished his bottle of elf-made wine as he thought about what had occurred. The Potions Master had come to a startling realization as he sat awake last night, _I don't want to die._

Dumbledore spoke, interrupting Severus' morose thoughts. 'Well, Severus, I believe we need to talk about your class schedule for the upcoming school term.' Snape looked up at Dumbledore and saw that the headmasters eyes were twinkling and he had a secretive smile on his face.

'What on earth are you talking about Albus?' Snape asked, confused as to why older man had not addressed the real problem at hand.

'Don't worry, dear boy. I think we can use this to our advantage.' Severus didn't respond; he was too confused to think of an appropriate question.

'I want you to take over the post as Defense Against the Dark Arts this year.' Dumbledore spoke, surprising Severus even more.

'But… Why now Albus? What are you thinking?' Severus finally spoke in a soft voice.

His eyes twinkiling triumphantly as his smile grew wider than it already was, Albus Dumbledore leaned forward as he filled the new DADA professor in on his plan for the upcoming year.

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The next morning dawned bright and sunny as the large group made their way to Diagon Alley. The day before, the Griffindors had received their class lists and it was time to purchase their supplies for the upcoming school term.

The trip to Diagon Alley was made easier due to the Ministry's willingness to provide cars for 'the Chosen One,' and in no time they were walking down the familiar street, still purple due to the ministry posters in every window. As they walked towards Madame Malkins, Hermione looked longingly towards the end of the Alley where she could just barely make out Yosh's bookshop. She wondered how often Professor Snape went to the small book store; he had seemed so familiar with it.

After a brief and unpleasant encounter with Draco Malfoy and his stuck up mother, they were on their way to Weasley's Wizarding Weezes. The whole group stopped in shock a few feet before the door to the twins shop, trying to take in what they were seeing. The twins display windows were so… _active _was the only word Hermione could think of to describe them. There was a myriad of items that moved and flashed and bounced and it was impossible to take it all in. Hermione heard Mrs. Weasley moan about the twins almost certain death as they entered the busiest store in Diagon Alley.

Hermione stayed to look at the shelves nearest the front windows so she could keep an eye out for Pansy. As she perused the different charms and candies, she thought it was a shame that people didn't recognize how brilliant the twins really were. True, the brilliance seemed wasted on a joke shop but some of these charms were really creative.

She was standing near Ginny near a display promising _daydreams to last a whole class period_ when she felt a sharp tug on her hair. Hermione whirled around in surprise but didn't see anyone, she felt another tug on her book bag in the direction of the front door of the store, so she quickly made her way out. After exiting the store, Hermione found Pansy taking off an invisibility cloak at the far wall, away from the windows so that the Weasley's wouldn't see her.

Pansy's eyes darted left to right as Hermione approached her.

'Pansy, you have an invisibility cloak?' She asked, surprised that another student possessed such a treasure.

'Yes, yes, but I don't have time for chitchat. Granger, what happened?' Pansy said in a near whisper. She wanted to get right to the point.

'Pansy,' I found a book that I think will help us. In fact, I think I know what Voldemort is planning!' Hermione said, also speaking in a whisper. As she spoke she reached into her book bag and took out '_The Blessings of a Witch_.' She held it up for Pansy to see the title and she asked her to read it.

Pansy raised her eyebrows at Hermione in question but then shrugged and started to read the title. 'The Curse of the….What!' Pansy said in surprise as the words started to change before her eyes. 'The Blessings of a Witch… Hermione, what is going on?' Pansy asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

Hermione quickly explained what had happened in Yosh's bookstore and she handed Pansy a copy of her list of the books Snape had purchased.

'I think we need to get a hold of the books Snape bought, that way we will know what research he has done.' Pansy nodded and took the list, 'I will see what I can find, maybe Snape will loan the books to my father,' she said with a bitter voice. The girl paused for a moment, thinking of what her father was committing her to.

'I found some pretty interesting stuff too about feminine magics. I found this book with tons of spells and glamour charms and love potions… Things that were made especially for women.'

Hermione nodded at this. 'I have to tell you about what's in this book.' Hermione said urgently, gesturing to the book still in Pansy's hands. She needed to hurry before Harry and Ron noticed she was gone.

'This is a sort of journal written by Morgaine. Morgaine was a witch from the time of Merlin. She has another name, Morgan Le Fey.' Pansy nodded at this.

'Well, Morgaine talks about a number of different spells and curses, all for women who are our age. A lot of them are mind spells, so Legilimency and Occlumency will actually be really useful for most of these.'

'So, you think Voldemort wants me to do one of these spells… maybe that's why Bellatrix is training me in Occlumency and Legilimency.' Pansy said.

Hermione nodded, 'Yeah, I think that's the idea, um… there is one more thing.' She hesitated, trying to think of the best way to say this.

'I'm not sure, Pansy, I need to read some more but there is one spell in here, I just read about it last night and it is more powerful than the rest. I think that Voldemort may be planning on using that one.' Pansy was quiet, listening intently to what Hermione was telling her.

'If I'm right,' Hermione took a deep breath. 'Well, if I'm right, you would loose all of your power, not just a small portion of it like Bellatrix told your father.'

Hermione watched as all the color drained out of Pansy's face. She stayed quiet as she waited for the other girl to process what Hermione had just said.

'All of my power.' Pansy said in a low voice. 'My father couldn't have known… I …I can't loose all of my power!' Her voice was sounding panicked now and she was looking around frantically. Hermione put a hand on the other girls shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

'I'm going to read more about this Pansy, we don't know for sure if this is what Voldemort is planning, the logistics would be really difficult.… I'm going to help you. Don't worry.' Hermione said, trying to keep her tone confident. As Hermione said this she looked behind her at the shop window. She saw that Ginny was still near the daydreaming charms but she was looking around her. Hermione knew she had been gone for too long, she needed to get back inside.

'Pansy, I have to go, they are going to notice that I'm missing.' Hermione said.

Pansy still looked a little shocked but she was recovering fast. She had been raised to keep her emotions in check and that breeding was coming in handy now. She looked past Hermione to the joke shop and then met Hermione's eyes. Hermione had been watching Pansy regain her equilibrium and was waiting for her to say something.

'Okay,' Pansy said slowly, 'Yeah. I'm supposed to meet Draco soon. So we should both go.'

Hermione nodded, 'Pansy, I will finish this book and we can talk on the first day of school, then we will know for sure.' She grimaced briefly at the mention of Draco, he had been so rude at Madam Malkins.

'I will see you at school then.' Pansy said handing Hermione back the enchanted book. Hermione quickly stuffed it back in her book bag.

'Yeah, see you there.' She said, then she walked quickly back into the twins shop.

Hermione entered the shop quietly and walked around a few shelves to approach Ginny from the other direction. She wandered towards Ginny as if she had just been browsing around. She saw Harry come back into the store from the back room with George, he was holding a number of items in his hand and his pockets looked a little heavier.

George lead the two girls towards a disgustingly pink display of love potions and other items 'just for girls,' and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief; nobody seemed to have noticed that she had been gone.

_AN: Well, what did you think? I had some troubles with this chapter so would love to get some feeback from all of you. _

_I want to thank everyone who reviewed! Its so lovely to get reviews. _

_One of you mentioned that you thought I should have more reviews, well that was extremely flattering and bolstering to read and I will just say that it took me months of lurking before I started reviewing the stories I liked. I can only hope that there are many out there like me who are enjoying my story even if they don't say anything! No matter, I will continue to write this as if I had a million reviews telling me to hurry up and update!_


	5. Chapter 5: Finding the right Girls

**Chapter 5: Finding the Right Girls**

**AN: See disclaimer in previous chapters. This is unbeta'd and most likely extremely flawed. I just felt bad waiting so long to update. My beta's have the chapter now and I will of course reload the beta'd version when that has been taken care of.**

_Long after I had finished my training at Avalon, a great tragedy occurred. My teacher and mentor, Viviane, Head Priestess of Avalon was killed. She had ruled wisely over Avalon for thirty years when she was cruelly stabbed by an errant knight of Arthur's Court. Arthur's court was already beginning to loose the unity that had so marked it in the beginning. Arthur had lost so much control by then. _

_The Knight was struck down immediately, of course, but the damage was done. The women of Avalon were left without our leader. We were lost in the mists of Avalon without her wisdom and beauty. _

_For days we wept and wailed in our grief and pain. There were six of us left. As we succumbed to our grief, the world was thrown into chaos. Camelot was at war, Merlin had been lost by this time and could no longer provide the protection Arthur had grown used to. There was no Priestess to turn to and the heart of Avalon was bleeding. It was weeks after Vivianne's death that we checked our scrying glass and saw what had happened to the world. It was obvious that Camelot would be lost, the whole land seemed to be burning down, and there was no helping that. Avalon would be next and the women of Avalon would need protection. We were sisters. United through our training, united by the great tragedy of Viviane's death. We devised a spell to unite us further so we could fight together for our safety and to preserve Avalon. We called it the Aminadverto Femina… _

**Excerpt from _'The Blessings of a Witch.'_**

Hermione sighed as she rushed forward to help shepherd the firsties to the Gryffindor dorms, _alone_. Ron would never take his responsibilities seriously, she looked back to see him talking quietly with Harry. It was their first day back at Hogwarts and the start of term feast had just ended. Harry was no doubt explaining to Ron why he had arrived in the Great Hall so late.

As Hermione was directing first years, someone bumped into her hard and she felt something slip into her hand.

'Watch it Granger! Stay out of my way! Pansy said as she walked away from Hermione.

The Gryffindor witch, ignoring the laughter of Pansy's gang of friends, looked at her hand to see a small folded up slip of parchment in her hand. She quickly slipped the parchment into the pocket of her robes to read once she was in her dorm room.

Once she was in her dorm room, empty as Lavender and Parvati were down in the common room socializing, Hermione pulled out the note that Pansy has passed to her.

_RoR tonight 10:30. Be Careful, PM patrols at 10. _

_Blessings of Vivianne._

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip. She didn't like going out after curfew, especially knowing that Snape would be patrolling the halls tonight, PM stood for Potions Master. All she needed was to loose points on her first day back. Unfortunately, she didn't really have a choice. She needed to meet with Pansy and update her on what she had read in 'Morgaine's Journal,' as she had begun to think of her book.

At 10:30, most of the students had left the common room for their dorm rooms and Hermione was able to slip out of the portrait unnoticed. She had already changed for bed and shivered as the cold drafts from the castle seemed to go right through her pajamas and thin robe. She hadn't bothered with shoes, as socks would enable her to walk quietly.

The castle was dark and she stayed close to the walls in an attempt to not be seen if a certain professor happened by. She made her way quickly up to the Room of Requirement, clutching Morgaine's Journal in her hands.

Pansy must already be in there, Hermione thought when she reached the doorway across the hall from the well known tapestry of trolls attempting ballet. She quickly went in to a room that closely resembled the Gryffindor common room. The only difference being the green and silver coloring, rather than the maroon and gold that she was so accustomed to.

Pansy sat on one of the couches in front of the fireplace; she was also in her night clothes and was warming her hands on a tea cup. She handed an identical cup to Hermione when the Gryffindor witch sat down next to her on the couch.

For a moment, both girls were quiet, sipping their tea and avoiding each other's eyes.

Pansy took a deep breath and spoke first.

'Gra- er… Hermione, my father talked to me about my 'mission' before I left for school this morning.'

'Do you know what Voldemort is planning to do?' Hermione asked eagerly.

Pansy shook her head, 'No, I was only given a set of instructions that I have to follow. Voldemort does not reveal his plans to just anybody.'

'What do you have to do?' Hermione asked, her voice fearful as she imagined all manner of macabre missions that Voldemort would set for his followers.

'I have to make friends with you.' Pansy said in an expressionless voice.

Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise.

'What?' The Gryffindor witch said in a skeptical voice. 'I don't understand. Voldemort wants you to become friends with _me_?'

'Well, actually,' Pansy said. 'Not just you, but with a majority of the females who are my age at Hogwarts. I am also to do all that Professor Snape tells me to, as he will be helping me.' Pansy said in a mocking voice that implied she was quoting her father verbatim.

Hermione was quiet as she thought this through.

'Pansy… I think this proves that I was right about that spell. The one I told you about at Diagon Alley last week. The spell is performed by a number of girls, but they have to have absolute trust in one another for it to be successful.' She murmured.

Pansy stood abruptly. 'It doesn't matter, I have a solution. I just won't become friends with anyone. That way Voldemort's spell can't work!' She had started pacing as she spoke, 'I won't help Voldemort use me and then loose all my magic!'

Hermione was shaking her head. 'Pansy, that won't work. If you don't fulfill your end, Voldemort will punish you and your family. You have to appear to be loyal to him.

Look… take this with you tonight.' Hermione held the book out to the other girl.

'Read it, especially the _Aminadverto Femina_ spell in chapter 12. Then we can meet and devise a way for you to appear to be following Voldemort's orders…. Pansy, this spell could be really useful to us, it doesn't have to be used for Voldemort. It can be used for a number of different applications, it's really powerful. That's why I noticed it at first; I think we should do it.'

Pansy had stopped pacing and was looking down at Hermione, who still sat on the couch.

'Ok… I'll read it. I don't like any of this especially with Snape breathing down our necks, we need to be really careful, Hermione.

Hermione was quiet; Dumbledore trusted Snape and therefore, so did Hermione. But, Pansy didn't know about his role in all of this. She couldn't say anything… yet.

'Speaking of Snape, Pansy, did you have any luck with those book title's I gave you?'

'No, I couldn't find any of those books, but I did find a book on feminine magic that is really good. Honestly, I don't see how it could help with our Voldemort problem, but I have already used some of the glamours.' The Slytherin witch smiled sheepishly at this.

Hermione shrugged, 'I guess you never know. Can I read that one?'

Pansy nodded, 'Sure, but I didn't bring it with me tonight. I will send it to you tomorrow by Owl post, I could change the cover so it's disguised,' she said. Hermione's book still had the book cover on it that read 'Advanced Rune Translation.'

'Ok, that sounds good. Why don't you make it an arithmancy book. Harry and Ron wouldn't want to take a second look at it.' She said, as she stood up and placed her now tepid tea on the table.

'We should get going, Pansy, we can meet again tomorrow after you have read that chapter. I don't want to get caught by professor Snape on our first night back.'

Pansy smiled at this and reached behind the sofa and retrieved her invisibility cloak.

'I can take you as far as the hall near the entrance. Then you can go to your tower from there.'

Hermione smiled back and the girls left the Room of Requirement.

The first day of classes left all of the sixth year students with a huge amount of homework. NEWT classes were not going to be easy. After dinner, Hermione went into the library to get a start on her homework, still muttering to herself about Harry's new potions book. She was just pulling out her textbook for Ancient Runes when she heard Pansy whisper in her ear, probably from underneath her invisibility cloak.

'Meet me in the empty classroom in the corner of the seventh floor corridor.' Hermione kept her eyes on her textbook in case anybody was looking her way, and nodded to show Pansy she understood. She waited five more minutes before packing away her books and walking towards the seventh floor.

Pansy sat at a desk in the middle of the classroom, as soon as Hermione closed the door she raised her wand and warded the door. Hermione added a silencing spell so they couldn't be overheard. Students rarely ventured this far down the corridor on the seventh floor so she wasn't too worried about being found.

'Pansy, why not meet in the Room of Requirement?' she asked, looking around the darkened classroom. She was still breathing heavily from the walk up seven flights of stairs. The room hadn't been used in a while and there was a layer of dust on everything. Pansy sighed, 'I overheard Draco talking to Crabbe and Goyle, and they are planning on using that room all year for … something. I think Draco has an assignment from the Dark Lord as well.' Pansy looked a little sad at this and Hermione wondered how involved she and Draco were.

'Well, Hermione said, as long as we remember to ward the door, I guess this classroom will work.' Pansy nodded.

'Well, I read about that spell. I think you're right, it would be amazing to do the spell.' Hermione smiled at this.

'Pansy, how many girls did Voldemort want you to befriend? Maybe we should get the same amount of girls to help us.'

'I was told that the more girls the better. I think the spell is more powerful the more you have. I think that's why Bellatrix said I was the only one to do it. Where else will you find a large amount of girls who are around each other frequently? Hogwarts is a perfect setting.' Hermione nodded. It made sense; the spell was based on the combined power of the girls involved. More girls would mean more sources of power.

'So, our first step would be to select which girls to involve.'

'How are we going to do that?' Pansy asked. 'I don't want to trust just any girl. We need to be careful.' Hermione agreed. The spell called that each woman involved had complete trust in each other.

'Pansy, we are going to have to trust each other completely in order to pull this off. We should get started as soon as possible so that we have the time to build trust.'

Pansy was quiet; she was looking down at Morgaine's journal and didn't answer Hermione right away.

Hermione stayed quiet to allow Pansy time to think things through. She was startled when Pansy exclaimed, 'I've got it! I know how we can choose the other girls.' As she said this, she picked up the book and started ripping off the fake cover Hermione had placed on it. A few seconds later, both girls looked at the original cover of the 'journal.' _The Blessings of a Witch_ was uncovered for both girls to see clearly and Hermione started to understand what Pansy was thinking.

'We need to be discreet,' Pansy started, 'but we can show this to certain girls, see what they can read. Doesn't Morgaine say that only the 'worthy' will read the correct title?' Hermione nodded, 'The man in the bookshop couldn't read the correct title, from what Morgaine says, I think it's only possible for women to see it.'

The two girls agreed that Pansy would keep the book for the rest of the week. She would show it around and find the 'worthy' girls from Slytherin and Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw's tended to get along with the Slytherin's better than students from Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. After a week, it would be Hermione's turn to find the rest of the girls. They decided that in two weeks time, they would ask all the girls to meet here in this classroom so they could talk about the spell. Hermione sighed and looked around the dusty room one more time, it would serve their purposes, but the Room of Requirement would be so much more comfortable. She said as much to Pansy.

At this, Pansy smiled a small, calculating smile that Hermione was starting to think of as Pansy's '_Slytherin Smile_.'

'Don't worry about a thing,' the witch said. 'I'll arrange everything in time for the other girls to join us.'

Hermione looked at Pansy for a moment, trying to figure out what she wasn't saying.

'What do you mean?'

'Don't worry about it; I have a great idea Hermione. Anyways, we should start your lessons before it gets too late, I have homework I still need to do tonight.'

Hermione nodded eagerly at this and she stopped worrying about whatever Pansy might be planning.

Pansy explained to Hermione that she would cast Legilimens and Hermione's job would be to block her.

'Remember when I tried Legilimens on you at the pub?' Hermione nodded. 'This will be a bit more intense, but I will try to be gentle about it at first. We will need to make eye contact, but try to imagine putting up a wall and blocking me from your mind. That's what helped me when I was working with Mrs. Lestrange.'

Hermione nodded and took a deep breath to ready herself. Pansy looked into her eyes. _'Legilimens!' _

Hermione felt Pansy 'enter' her mind and sift through her memories. She saw herself eating breakfast with her mom and dad the day she was to leave for Hogwarts for the first time. She then saw herself earlier in the day during Snape's defense class as she successfully blocked Neville's whispered hex…and then she was in primary school with her nose stuck in a book during their recess break as the other students made fun of her….it was her fourth year in the library when Viktor asked her to attend the Yule ball with him… That was when she thought to block Pansy out. _These were private memories,_ she thought to herself. She imagined a large brick wall coming between Pansy and her memories as she tried to push the other girl out.

Hermione blinked, she was sitting on the cold stone floor looking up at Pansy who was smirking.

'Not bad. Not bad at all. I can see you've been emptying your mind every night.' Pansy said. I was only able to stay in there for about a minute or so. That's good for a first try.'

Hermione smiled in satisfaction at Pansy's compliment. It was fascinating the way Pansy could delve into her memories, she knew she was going to enjoy learning to master Occlumency and Legilmency.

Pansy decided that Hermione would try Legilimency next. She told Hermione to maintain eye contact when she cast Legilimens. She needed to imagine entering Pansy's mind, using her eyes as a conduit. Once in, she should be able to see Pansy's memories.

Hermione nodded and raised her wand.

'Legilimens!' she said as she looked straight into the other girls hazel eyes.

She felt her mind pushing against Pansy's, she was breathing hard with the effort. She saw a memory of Pansy sitting on a stool wearing the sorting hat as the hat decided between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Everything was hard for Hermione to see, as if it were far away or in a fog. It only lasted a few seconds before she had lost contact. Pansy blinked once and gave Hermione a small smile.

'I saw something!' Hermione exclaimed, excited that she had managed Legilimency. 'The hat thought about putting you in Ravenclaw? Me too.' She said with a smile at Pansy. She wondered if they would have been friends if they had been placed in the same house.

Pansy nodded, 'I wanted to be in Slytherin, though. My whole family has been in Slytherin.' She paused for a minute. Not a bad attempt. I didn't expect you to see more than one memory on your first try, that's normal. Was it clear or was it kind of hard to see?' She asked.

'Kind of hard to see, actually, like through some fog.' Hermione answered. Pansy nodded in understanding. 'It was the same for me when I tried. After you start to see a clear picture, then you will be able to pull up more than one memory.' Hermione tried both Occlumency and Legilimency a few more times before the girls parted to their separate common rooms. They both had some homework to finish that evening and had agreed not to stay too late. They would meet in a week so that Hermione could get the book from Pansy.

For the next few days, the girls only saw each other in their potions and defense classes. Neither girl acknowledged the other. Pansy carried the journal with her wherever she went. When she thought it was appropriate, she would take it out and show it to certain girls. Hermione was walking down the hall once and noticed Pansy quietly speaking with a Slytherin girl named Tracey Davis, the book held in her hands as she pointed out the title. Hermione kept her eyes forward as she walked by, but she couldn't help a small smile when she heard the Slytherin gasp in surprise. She had apparently seen the title change.

The next Monday, the day they planned on meeting again in their seventh floor classroom, Hermione was sitting in defense wondering how many girls Pansy had contacted. DADA was one of the classes that Hermione and Pansy shared and she couldn't help but glance over at the Slytherin corner every now and again. For the last week, the class had been working on non-verbal spells. About 60 of the class had mastered it and Hermione and Pansy were part of that group. Snape was stalking around the classroom between the pairs as they tried to hex and block each other non-verbally. Hermione was still paired with Neville and was feeling a bit frustrated with the lack of practice this afforded her. Neville would manage one or two hexes for the entirety of class; he wasn't yet able to block anything Hermione had sent towards him. She wished he presented more of a challenge.

Snape stepped up close behind Hermione as she waited for Neville to hex her. She felt him close behind her at the same time she saw Neville's eyes widen with fear at their professor as he watched. Neville's concentration was gone and Hermione knew nothing would happen while their instructor stood behind her. She sighed audibly and she heard a very quiet chuckle in her ear from her professor. He clearly understood the source of her frustration. She jerked in surprise when he suddenly spoke loudly to the whole class.

'I can see that most of you lack the competency to accomplish some simple non-verbal magic! It has been maddening to say the least to watch you all struggle to learn something as simple as this. How do you expect to defend yourselves adequately?!' He said in a harsh voice. He looked over at Neville when he said this.

His eyes moved down to Hermione still standing in front of him and then to his Slytherin students, standing in a group. 'Some of you, however, seemed to have picked it up easily enough. It is time to match you up according to your talents. If I leave you paired up as you currently are, I am afraid your whole class will fail its NEWTs.'

There was a general un-rest within the class. It was never good when Snape assigned partners.

Surprisingly enough, Harry and Ron were able to stay together. Neville was partnered with a quiet Hufflepuff that Hermione didn't know. Hermione was surprised to be partnered with Pansy. It was perfect; this would give the girls an extra opportunity to talk if they needed to. Hermione flashed Pansy a quick smile as she walked to go stand next to her. Pansy's eyes flashed in response but she just sneered at Hermione in typical Slytherin fashion. For the rest of the class the girls worked together and Hermione was pleased to have someone who could match her. Pansy had also learned non-verbal spells so the girls challenged each other, taking turns attempting creative hexes and blocks against each other. They carefully remembered to keep their faces blank, they were supposed to be angry that Snape had paired them together, but Hermione could tell that Pansy was enjoying it as much as she was.

After class, Hermione was slowly packing her defense book back in her satchel as Harry and Ron approached her to see if she was all right, _since she had been stuck with Parkinson all clas_s! As Ron said. As she started to leave, flanked on either side by the boys as they ranted at the injustice of it all, she heard Snape speak to Pansy.

'Ms. Parkinson, a word if you please.' He said silkily in a low voice.

'Yes, sir. 'Pansy said as she approached his desk.

As she walked out the door, Hermione glanced behind her once to see Snape speaking to Pansy at his desk.

She wondered what that was about. She would need to ask Pansy tonight when she saw her.

That night, Hermione and Pansy met once again in the seventh floor classroom. Pansy had found five girls who could read the correct title of the book. She had found two Ravenclaws and three Slytherins. Hermione idly wondered if there would be more or less Gryffindor who passed their little test. They continued their lessons and decided to plan more sessions per week, as Hermione hadn't made any progress since last week. After they had spent an hour on their lessons, Hermione remembered about their DADA class earlier.

'What did Professor Snape want with you today after class?'

Pansy sighed, 'He wanted to explain why he partnered us together. He is helping me to become friends with you first as you would be able to help me with the rest of the Gryffindors. We will be partnered for the rest of the year and I need to use my time wisely.'

Hermione frowned at this, _what was Snape playing at? _Was this all part of his act for Voldemort's sake?

Pansy smirked, 'We can use our class time to work on the spell and Snape will just think I'm doing what he tells me to!'

Hermione laughed half – heartedly at this, still confused about what Snape's plan was. She felt a small frisson of doubt. Harry and Ron had never fully trusted Snape, regardless of what Dumbledore had always said. Maybe she needed to act cautiously until she could be sure, she needed to watch him more carefully.

'Let's practice a few more times before we call it a night,' Pansy said, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.

Hermione took the book with her for the next week, all of the girls would be meeting together and it was Hermione's turn to recruit. She started early the next morning, hoping to find some Gryffindor girls right away. The first two were easy, she left the book on a vanity table that both Parvati and Lavender used every morning. When the girls asked Hermione about the book left on their vanity table, she asked what the title was. They both gave her the same title as the book keeper had read to her in the shop.

Hermione spent the rest of the day feeling discouraged. She tried over and over again with a number of different girls, all with little or no success. If she wasn't careful, people were going to start noticing that she seemed to leave her book all over the common room. It wasn't until the next morning that Hermione found a girl who could read the real title of the book. She was re-reading the beginning that talked about 'being worthy enough' when Ginny approached her. Hermione had been so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice Ginny talking to her until Ginny said the title aloud.

'_The Blessings of a Witch?'_ What's that about Hermione?'

Hermione looked up sharply when Ginny spoke. Ginny was standing in front of Hermione looking down at the book held in her hand.

'What did you say, Ginny?'

'I was wondering what was so interesting that you ignored me when I started talking to you a minute ago.' Ginny said gesturing to the book.

'What does the title say?' Hermione asked her.

'The Blessings of a Witch. What's wrong Hermione? Why did you want me to read the title?' Ginny asked with raised eyebrows. 'Are you feeling okay?'

Hermione smiled with relief, she had found someone. She quickly asked Ginny to meet with her in the seventh floor classroom in a week. She promised to explain everything at that time and asked Ginny to keep it a secret until then. Ginny was clearly confused but she agreed to do as Hermione asked.

Throughout the week, Hermione found three more girls that could read the title of the book. She was more successful when she stopped trying to be so subtle and just asked girls to read the title of the book. Most people looked at her as if she was crazy, but she considered it worth it when the other girls were able to read the correct title. In the end, Susan Bones, Jarilyn Frobisher, one of Ginny's roommates, and a seventh year named Anjali Stimpson could correctly read the title of the book. Each girl promised to meet in the seventh floor classroom as Hermione asked.

Hermione made sure to get to the seventh floor classroom thirty minutes before the other girls would arrive. When she entered the classroom she stopped in surprise, her mouth opening to form a small 'O.' She heard a chuckle behind her as Pansy entered the room. The room had been transformed. What had once been a dusty abandoned classroom was now a cozy sitting room with overstuffed couches, a fireplace, and comfortable cushions and rugs covering the stone floor. The desks had been moved to one side and a coffee table near the front of the room was covered in snacks and pitchers of pumpkin juice.

'Told you I would take care of everything.' Pansy said smugly. Hermione turned to her and shook her head. 'How did you do this? It's amazing!'

Her smug smile still in place, Pansy called out a name. 'Seely! Are you here?'

A house elf apparated next to Hermione with a sharp crack.

'Hermione, meet my house elf Seely. She comes to work at Hogwarts during the school term so she can help me if I need it.'

The house elf bowed low towards Hermione, and Hermione noticed that Seely's pillowcase was pink with white unicorns dancing across it.

'Hi Seely…you did all of this?' Hermione asked.

'Yes miss, Seely loves helping Mistress Pansy! Is miss pleased?' The house elf asked eagerly.

'It's wonderful!' Hermione said sincerely. 'But…er… nobody can know we did this.'

'Don't worry about it,' Pansy said. 'Seely is my house elf and won't tell any of our secrets. She will also help us with anything we might need.' Seely was nodding so enthusiastically Hermione was reminded of an old fashioned bobble-head doll.

'Thanks Seel, we will call you if we need anything else.' Pansy said. Seely snapped and disappeared.

Hermione wondered around the room a little, taking in all the changes.

'Did you get any girls?' Pansy asked.

Hermione nodded, 'I found four girls, and they should be here in about thirty minutes.'

Pansy nodded, 'The girls I found agreed to come here tonight, but I can't guarantee they will stay after they hear what we have to say.'

'I have an idea about that,' Hermione said. 'I think we should get everyone to sign something saying they won't tell anyone about this meeting. We can't make them agree to help us, but we can't risk anyone else knowing.'

'That makes sense, but how do know we can trust them not to blab?' Pansy said.

Hermione told Pansy about the DA and Marietta Edgecombe's spotty face.

When the girls started to arrive, Pansy was still laughing over Hermione's story about Marietta. Hermione and Pansy stood side by side near the front of the room as the girls slowly filed in. Within five minutes, all nine girls were in the classroom. The room was silent as they looked at each other suspiciously. The girls Pansy had recruited were Luna Lovegood and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw and Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis from Slytherin. Hermione cleared her throat and all girls looked up at her and Pansy standing side by side. Most of the girls had obviously been surprised to walk in the room and see the two girls together, laughing like old friends.

Hermione spoke first. 'Pansy and I need to tell you why we asked you here tonight.'

_AN:_ _Aminadverto Femina is what I came up with using an English to Latin translator online. Aminadverto seemed to have a few different meanings, including reading and mind. Femina means woman. _

_AN: Some of my inspiration for the Avalon parts comes from a book called The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It is a brilliant story of Camelot told from Morgaine's point of view. I have however deviated a lot from Ms. Bradley's storyline and basically made up a lot of what you will read here._


	6. Chapter 6: Blurkalidge of the Brain

**Chapter 6: Blurkalidge of the Brain**

_Being raised and being trained in Avalon left me with a great appreciation of the sisterhood of women. The bond that I shared with my sisters; it was indescribable. We were so close. Each woman who was at Avalon with me became my sister. We bonded with blood, and a great love was shared between us all. That bond became the key in our spell. Only with a bond as close as sisters could the spell be successful. I warn you now; do not attempt this spell with anyone whom you do not trust. This spell is about trust. Trust, love, and friendship. _

_After performing our bonding, we each discovered a great gift. A gift to be shared. I had never heard of this before so it was a great surprise. _

_Judging from my experiences, I believe this 'gift' is available to all women who form this kind of a bond. It's been so long since the times of blood bondings, nobody remembers the power that can be gained. I believe we discovered another aspect of feminine magics, passed to us by our mother Goddess. If it is from our Mother Goddess, than it is sacred and special. I will not describe it to you. You need to experience it for yourself, my sister. It is the only way._

_If you perform this bond, you will discover this gift._

**Excerpt from 'The Blessings of a Witch.'**

Severus Snape took a deep breath as he settled himself in front of the fire in his quarters. Dinner was over, and Minerva had patrols tonight; he, therefore, had the whole evening to himself. The House Elves had already been here, and his rooms were clean. The fire was crackling, and his tea kettle and cup were set upon the hearth, no doubt filled with his favorite beverage, hot and ready to drink. Annoying as the creatures may be, there were definitely some advantages to having house elves around, he thought as he picked up his cup and sniffed appreciatively.

Hot chocolate complete with a multitude of tiny marshmallows; perfect, he thought with satisfaction. The Hogwarts House Elves were the only ones that knew about the DADA Professor's guilty pleasure, and he allowed himself a small smile as he imagined how his students would react if they learned this. No doubt they imagined him drinking firewhisky laced with arsenic.

Once he had enjoyed half a cup of his cocoa, he picked up his book. His mouth turned down at the corners as he opened the large tome. _The Curse of Avalon_ contained the spell that Voldemort was planning on using within the next year. Snape was to help the Parkinson girl as she attempted to manipulate the female population at Hogwarts in order to convince the girls to lend their power to the Dark Lord. Snape pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb as he thought about Pansy Parkinson. She was doing exactly as her father asked; she was a perfect little servant to her Dark Lord. Despite the still hostile relationship between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, she was slowly building a friendship with Hermione Granger. He was ordered to help the slytherin witch as much as possible, so he had paired the two girls together in class, making it easy for Miss Parkinson to start her work on Miss Granger.

The two girls worked brilliantly together, and he wished that he could simply be a teacher and enjoy the fact that two of his most promising pupils were making excellent progress. The Dark Lord was pleased with Pansy's progress so far, and therefore, with Snape's efforts to help the girl. Now Severus needed to figure out how to keep Miss Granger from giving all of her trust to Pansy. Damn Gryffindors were too trusting, she probably already felt like they were best friends. He remembered over-hearing her a few years ago as she spouted off about inter-house friendships, unity, and other such nonsense. Snape snorted at her idealism, Slytherins and Gryffindors would never be able to overcome a rivalry as old as Hogwarts itself.

He turned back to the book in his hands, re-reading the information about the spell or 'curse' as it was called. He had read this portion of the book a dozen times before, and something just didn't ring true. He had a feeling he was missing something and with a spell this complicated, he needed to know everything. He cursed the wizard who had written this particular narrative, the author had been incredibly long winded about how evil this woman Morgaine had been, but extremely vague about the way her spell worked.

Severus _accio'd _a slip of parchment and a quill, as he wrote down the procedure of the spell one more time, hoping it would become clear to him.

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Hermione and Pansy stood in front of the fire, waiting for someone to speak. Nine girls looked back up at them with identical stunned expressions on their faces after hearing what the two witches had to say. Pansy had told her story about her father and Voldemort while Hermione had explained about Morgaine's book and outlined the spell and what they wanted to do.

It was Luna who finally broke the silence and spoke first. 'So, Professor Snape's a Death Eater….I had wondered.' When she said this Ginny was opening her mouth to say something and Hermione caught her eyes and shook her head once. Ginny shut her mouth quickly and stayed quiet. Hermione and Ginny were the only girls who knew Snape's role as a double agent.

Pansy replied to Luna, 'Yes, he is, he has been 'helping' me with this little project. He paired Hermione and me up together in DADA class so I could start making friends with her. The Dark Lord has ordered Snape to help me all year. We need to be really careful about what we say or do around him.'

Hermione held up the parchment that each girl had signed her name on.

'When you signed this, you promised to not tell anyone about what you heard tonight. If you don't want to be involved, you don't have to. You can leave now, just because you were 'worthy' to see the title of the book doesn't mean you have to take this on. It will be really difficult.' Not one of the girls stood up and left the room so Hermione took that as a good sign.

Pansy spoke next, her eyes moving from one girl to the next. 'If we do this, we are going to have to trust each other completely. We can't allow ourselves to get caught up in who is in what house, or anything like that. The spell won't work unless we see each other as sisters… you need to be sure.'

It was Millicent Bulstrode who spoke next, 'I don't trust these girls yet. I'm sorry, but you're asking us to ignore the last five years and just trust each other? It's impossible. I'm not saying that we won't be able to trust each other eventually…' When she said this, Hermione noticed that most of the girls nodded their heads in agreement. She interrupted before Millicent could go any further.

'I know. We know….We aren't expecting it to be automatic. We have some time, we don't have to do this spell right away and it seems as if Voldemort isn't expecting anything right away either.'

'Snape told Voldemort it would take almost nine months for us to prepare for the spell.' Pansy said. 'I think as long as we do it this term, we will be way ahead of the Dark Lord.' Hermione was nodding in agreement.

'Okay, great…but how do we build trust? We can't exactly be seen together right? I think everyone would notice if I popped over to the Gryffindor table to chat with Hermione over dinner.' Millicent said in a sarcastic tone.

'She's right. We don't have it too bad in Ravenclaw, but everyone knows that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't get along.' This was from Padma.

Pansy held up both hands to get everyone's attention. 'We know this. Hermione and I have been talking about this since the summer hols, and nobody knows about that. Nobody uses this room, we can meet here, and we will have to meet in secret. We don't know who we can trust, so we can't tell anybody about this little club.'

'Maybe we should make up a name.' Hermione said when Pansy called it a club, reminding Hermione of Dumbledore's Army from last year.

Pansy raised her eyebrows and looked at Hermione incredulously. 'Are you joking?' She asked. Hermione shook her head but then noticed that each of the Slytherins wore identical expressions.

'Hermione, this isn't summer camp for Muggles. We are taking on the Dark Lord! We don't need a stupid club name. Next you'll probably suggest we elect a president and a treasurer.' Pansy said. Hermione stiffened at Pansy's disdain.

Before she could reply, Ginny started laughing, and was soon joined by the other girls.

Hermione relaxed and smiled back at Ginny.

'I suppose a club name is a bit childish.' She conceded.

After the laughter had died down, Susan Bones spoke up for the first time.

'We should probably get going soon. We've been here or a while.'

Some of the girls looked around in surprise; nobody had been paying attention to the time.

'Your right, we need to get going. Hermione and I will plan another time to get together, and we will let you all know.' Pansy said. 'We should plan on meeting at least once a week, probably more until we can do the spell. Right, Hermione?' She said looking at her 'partner.'

Hermione nodded. 'The spell will take some planning and we need to get to know each other better…I also had one more idea.' When she said this she looked at Pansy warily.

Pansy's eyebrows went up, Hermione hadn't mentioned this to her yet.

Hermione turned to look at the other girls. 'Pansy has started teaching me Occlumency and Legilimency…I think we should all learn.'

'What is that?' Jarilyn asked, looking confused. Before Hermione could respond, Anjali spoke up. 'It's kind of like being able to enter into someone else's mind and find their memories or thoughts. Legilimency is entering into someone else's mind while Occlumency is blocking your mind from somebody else. I already know how to do it, actually.' Hermione didn't know Anjali very well at all, but she smiled at the other girl. It would make things easier if Pansy wasn't the only girl who could teach those particular skills.

'That's Great, Anjali; you could help Pansy teach it.' Hermione said. 'Does anybody else know how to do it?'

To Hermione's surprise, Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode, and Luna Lovegood raised their hands.

Daphne chuckled at Hermione's expression. 'Occlumency and Legilimency are highly valued in Slytherin, it gives you a decided edge over your opponent,' she said in a prideful voice.

'Luna? You know how to read minds?' Ginny asked. 'Well, it's not really reading minds you know, but yes, my mother taught me before she died,' Luna's voice was soft as she explained. 'You would be surprised what you can get away with when people consider you to be _loony_. If I happen to stare into someone's eyes for too long, they don't suspect anything except for me being my loony self.'

Pansy smiled in appreciation when Luna said this. 'You sounded just like a Slytherin when you said that.'

'Well,' said Hermione, looking around once more, 'I guess that leaves the rest of us to learn Occlumency and Legilimency.' Addressing Ginny, Jarilyn, Susan and Tracey, she said, 'Pansy had me start by clearing my mind of all thoughts every night before I go to bed.'

Pansy nodded. 'Start with that and we will start practicing the next time we meet. It won't take long to learn with this many teachers.'

Hermione and Pansy hung back as the other girls cleared out of the room quietly. It was Hermione who spoke first. 'Well, that went well, I think.' She said turning to Pansy.

The other witch nodded.

'Good idea with the Occlumency and Legilimency lessons, that will help with the spell.'

'Yes, I figured it would help with the spell, and have the added benefit of helping us all to get to know each other a little better.' Hermione said.

'So, we can plan on lessons for our next few meetings with the other girls?' Pansy asked.

Hermione flashed a secretive smile towards the Slytherin witch. 'Well, I think we should do lessons once a week, but I have a better idea for the next meeting. We could probably do this once a month'

Pansy looked at her in askance, Hermione didn't usually keep secrets.

'Pansy, have you ever heard of a slumber party?'

Later that week on Friday night, Hermione, clad in her pajamas, entered a very silent seventh floor classroom. She was the last girl to arrive, as Harry and Ron had detained her in the common room.

She looked around the room. Everyone had received the message to meet here after curfew and they had all made it. The girls, all in pajamas, sat awkwardly on the couches looking bored. Some held a tea cup in their hands and sipped quietly, the slytherins talked quietly among each other.

Hermione laughed out loud, startling some of the girls.

'Well, it's a good thing I'm a Muggle-born! Obviously nobody here knows the first thing about a slumber party.' When none of the girls responded to this she continued.

'A slumber party is a muggle tradition in which girls get together and eat junk food and talk about sex, men, and beauty. It's a time to be as girly as we want to. ' She called to Seely; Pansy had asked the House Elf to help Hermione with whatever she would need for her slumber party, and Hermione had reluctantly accepted the help of the little house elf.

She asked Seely to bring in a multitude of blankets and pillows and set them up on the floor in front of the fire. She used her wand to move the couches back and instructed all the girls to sit on the floor with her. Hermione had asked her mother to send her the last six issues of Cosmopolitan Magazine to her by Owl post earlier this week. She pulled out her magazines and showed them to the other girls. She picked up one and found an article entitled '_The Ten Hottest Ways to Please Your Man!_' and she started to read it aloud. It wasn't long before some of the girls started to giggle at what she was reading. Hermione could feel herself turning red as the magazine became descriptive and explicit, so she put it down. The girls seemed to have loosened up a bit and they were able to feel moderately comfortable around each other. They spent the next few hours of the night going through the racy magazines, and laughing over the various articles that covered anything from sex to muggle beauty tricks.

When beauty and make-up became the main topic of conversation, Hermione dug out Pansy's book on feminine magics. Each girl took a turn trying various glamours and beauty charms. It was close to 5:00am when the girls quietly snuck into their dormitories just as the sun was coming up. Hermione and Pansy left the classroom last, both feeling a sense of satisfaction that their first slumber party was such a success. The girls had gotten to know each other better and were well on the way of becoming friends and confidants.

It felt like she had only been asleep for minutes when Hermione was awakened by someone shaking her and calling her name. She looked up groggily at Lavender and Parvati who were both staring down at her. She blinked a few times and sat up in bed, pushing her unruly hair out of her eyes.

'What's going on?' She asked, her voice rough with sleep.

'Harry and Ron asked us to check on you, Hermione.' Parvati said.

'Ron said you must be sick because you never sleep this late usually.' Lavender then piped in.

Hermione sighed in frustration, _why couldn't the boys let me have one lie in?_

She reluctantly got out of bed and dressed herself; between her lessons with Pansy, and her normal coursework, she hadn't spent very much time with her two friends lately. She would make it up to them this weekend before things got even busier.

For the next two months, the girls met once or twice a week and practiced their Occlumency and Legilimency. Most of the girls were starting to make some real progress. Hermione herself had managed to completely block Pansy from her mind and was getting better and Legilimency every time they met.

Hermione figured that Snape's lessons on non-verbal magic were making a big difference. They were learning how to focus their magic with their minds and Occlumency and Legilimency were an extension of that. Pansy and Hermione were still paired together for their DADA classes and the two girls started using their class time to get in some extra practice. The wonderful thing about non-verbal magic is that every pair of students were basically standing around and staring at each other. As long as Hermione and Pansy threw a few hexes every once in a while, they were free to practice entering and blocking each other's minds.

The girls met for another slumber party late on Halloween after the feast. As Hermione entered the room, she couldn't help but smile. It was such a difference from two months before when they had met. The girls were flopped on the floor or reclining on one of the various couches, all in their pajamas and looking comfortable and drowsy. Hermione was caught by surprise to see Millicent Bulstrode braiding Ginny's red hair, as they giggled with Daphne Greengrass about a man featured in one of the 'Cosmo' magazines. A Slytherin witch was braiding a Griffindor's hair; she never thought she would ever see anything like that. 'Millie, you are going to have to do that to my hair next.' Hermione said as she grabbed a cup of cocoa and sat next to Ginny.

Pansy smirked at this, 'Do you think you could tame that bushy mass?' she said in a teasing tone. All the girls laughed at this, Hermione's hair had become a running joke. When they had started to learn new glamours, Hermione had been disappointed that not one was designed to tame hair like hers. It seemed she would have to resort to Sleekeazy's if she wanted to attain shiny straight locks of hair.

Hermione sighed as she thought about her hair. She wondered if Ron would actually make some sort of romantic gesture if she had straight pretty hair. She started to dwell on the past few weeks; he had wanted to come to the Christmas party with her; that was a good sign. Just as she was remembering when she asked him, she felt someone in her mind. Hermione blinked and realized she was staring straight into Pansy's eyes. Pansy chuckled; not at all abashed that she had slipped into Hermione's mind.

'You looked sad and since you were also looking right at me, I thought I would check.' Pansy explained.

'So, Hermione, you like Weasley? I always thought it might be Potter.' Pansy mused.

Hermione shook her head, 'I'll leave Harry to Ginny here, actually.' She explained, as Ginny turned a delicate shade of pink. Even though she was dating Dean, most of the girls already knew of her attraction to Harry Potter.

The other girls had started to listen to the conversation now and it was Tracey who piped in next. 'Why do you like Ron Weasley?'

'Hey, watch it… he is my brother.' Ginny said, reacting to Tracey's question.

'Sorry Ginny, there isn't anything wrong with him… I just don't see him with Hermione.' Tracey answered.

'Well, I don't know why I like him,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'I just do. There has always been something there between us, ever since third year I think. An attraction, I think that is why we are always fighting.'

Tracey nodded, 'I get that, It's just…what do you two have in common besides Harry Potter?'

'She has a point, Hermione.' Ginny said. 'I love my brother, but his interests are limited; you hate Quidditch, you are terrible at chess, and he could care less about the latest potions journal or anything within academia.'

Hermione was feeling a little shocked. She had never thought about this. She tended to tone Ron out when he talked about Quidditch, or anything else that interested him. He tended to tone her out when she talked about her interests as well… or he would just get this glazed look in his eyes that made it obvious that she was talking way over his head.

It was Pansy who took Hermione's point of view in their debate about Ron.

'Come on girls, its not like we can choose who we are attracted to. If Hermione's attracted to Weasley, so be it. I wish her luck.'

'We all support you Hermione,' Millicent said, 'just think about what the other girls said. I, for one, think you would do better with someone older who is fascinated by research or something. That way you can spend the rest of your lives talking about said research, and being thoroughly boring!'

This lightened the mood up a bit and Hermione laughed.

'You guys make really good points about Ron and me, I'll think about it.'

'Just be careful,' Luna said, affecting the dreamy look that had earned her the name loony, 'thinking too hard can cause Blurkalidge of the brain.'

Most of the girls laughed at this; as they had gotten closer, they realized that Luna enjoyed her reputation and often times she was just cultivating it when she made seemingly strange comments like that.

Hermione thought about how Luna was always saying stuff like that. She had a wonderful imagination. Out of all the girls, Luna was by far the most creative and imaginative out of all of them.

'Luna,' Hermione said, 'you just gave me a great idea!'

'Blurkalidge of the brain gave you a great idea?' Pansy asked.

'No, Luna's imagination gave me a great idea…Luna, do you think you could imagine something completely fake?'

'Sure I could, any of us could probably come up with something.' Luna answered.

'Yes, probably, but I want to try and use Legilimency on you. See if you can make it convincing, details and everything. Okay?'

Luna nodded and seemed deep in thought for about a minute.

'Okay, I'm ready.'

Hermione held up her wand and met Luna's eyes. 'Legilimens!'

As Hermione entered Luna's mind she was immediately thrown into what seemed to be a jungle. Luna was wearing muggle camouflage and holding a large rifle as she ran through the trees. Hermione then saw a very strange animal up ahead; Luna seemed to be hunting it. It had the body shape of a cow with long fur and in a zebra stripe pattern. It had large horns that zigzagged away from its head in an accordion like pattern. The tableau was colorful and detailed but it lacked a little dimension.

Hermione blinked and ended the spell.

'What did you see?' asked Luna.

'You were hunting a strange animal in the jungle and you were dressed in muggle camouflage.' Hermione answered.

Luna laughed at this. 'It worked! The animal is how I imagine a crumple-horned snorkak would look!'

Hermione laughed along with the other girls.

'This is great! It's a step up from regular Occlumency. It's always apparent to the person performing Legilimens when someone is blocking them from their mind, but if we can project fake memories and thoughts….'

Pansy was already nodding. 'It's perfect! We could even trick the Dark Lord himself!'

'When I saw your image, Luna, it seemed a bit flat… we should all start working on this, with a little practice I'd wager we could get it to look more authentic.' Hermione said in a thoughtful voice.

'We need to work on this!' Pansy said in an excited voice.

'A few of us will be going home for the holidays. If Bellatrix Lestrange visits my house, she will use Occlumency on me. I don't want her to be suspicious. I could make up images of trying to follow Snape's orders.'

Hermione bit her lip. She hadn't thought of that. Pansy would have to be really careful, or she would be discovered.

'Pansy, lets start meeting three times a week.' Hermione said. 'With Quidditch in full swing now, Harry and Ron won't notice if I'm missing. We can also continue to practice during DADA class. It's really important that you perfect this before Christmas… That only gives us two months.'

Most of the girls decided to increase their meetings as well. Pansy had made them realize how useful this new skill could be.

_A/N: I know this had a hint of HG/RW in it, but think of the timeline of the HBP. According to the Harry Potter Lexicon, Ron and Lavender will begin snogging in exactly two days… Hermione will start to see Snape as the tall, dark and handsome potions master we all love!_

_A/N: When writing this chapter I found a large problem with chapter five. I had listed Katie Bell as one of the girls. During the HPB, Katie is cursed by the locket and spends the rest of her time in St. Mungo's. That will not work for this story! So I had to change one of the girls who Hermione recruits. Chapter five has been updated. In order to clarify, I will give you a list of all the girls involved:_

_Hermione Granger-Gryffindor 6th Year_

_Pansy Parkinson- Slytherin 6th Year_

_Padma Patil- Ravenclaw 6th Year_

_Luna Lovegood- Ravenclaw 5th Year_

_Millicent Bulstrode- Slytherin 6th Year_

_Daphne Greengrass- Slytherin 6th Year_

_Tracey Davis- Slytherin 6th Year_

_Ginny Weasley- Gryffindor 5th Year_

_Susan Bones- Hufflepuff 6th Year_

_Anjali Stimpson- Gryffindor 7th Year_

_Jarilyn Frobisher- Gryffindor 5th Year_


	7. Chapter 7: Hermione Triumphant

**Chapter 7: Hermione Triumphant**

**AN: This chapter is not beta'd yet, I take full credit for all the glaring mistakes! **

**AN: See Disclaimers in previous chapters. Warning; lemons ahead…well, fake lemons anyways.**

_I want to tell you sister, about lust. Lust has power and women wield that power better than any man could hope to. Lust is a weakness in men, my sister. Men are slaves to their hormones and leave themselves open for manipulation. A sultry smile, one single flash of your breast and you will have a willing and eager man, ready to do your bidding. Indeed, even Merlin, great wizard that he was, met his downfall due to lust. _

_Through my life I watched as strong men lost their wits around a beautiful woman. _

_The power of lust is available to any woman who claims it. Even non-magic folk. _

_My greatest enemy was a non-magical woman. I feared her and loathed her as my enemy, but I respected her for her power. She used whatever resources available to her and she played a key role in bringing down Avalon. She was a beautiful woman and incited a number of men to fight their battles in her name. She could incite a legion of knights with a single smile, and she did. Yes indeed, my sister, Lust can be very powerful if used correctly._

**Excerpt from 'The Blessings of a Witch'**

Hermione sat in front of the fire of the seventh floor classroom holding a cup of cocoa in her hands. This place had become a sanctuary for her, and she was sure the other girls felt that way too. When she had entered the room, she had found Pansy and Millie already here, playing a game of exploding snap.

'Oh, er… Hi girls, I didn't expect to find anyone here.' Hermione said as the two girls looked up when she walked in. Pansy had stood up immediately when she looked at Hermione's face; it was obvious the Gryffindor girl had been crying.

'What happened?' Pansy asked in alarm.

Hermione shook her head, 'It's nothing… I…I just.' She took a deep breath and tried again.

'I just saw Ron snogging Lavender in the Gryffindor common room.' She felt her eyes well up with more tears.

'I guess it doesn't matter if we would have made a good couple, he kind of made the decision for me.' Pansy and Millie had lead her to the nearest couch and given her a cup of cocoa, attempting to comfort her. Each girl sat on one side of her and Pansy had an arm around her back.

'I'm sorry, Herm, guys can be such jerks!' Millie said.

'Do you want me to go hex him for you?' Pansy asked in a voice that was only half joking. 'I know a hex that can cause sever diarrhea!'

Hermione choked out a surprised laugh when Pansy said that.

'Don't tempt me!' She said, giggling at the thought of Ron having diarrhea every time he tried to snog Lavender. 'Besides, I already hexed him.' She told Pansy and Millie about her canaries, and how she had sent them after Ron.

'You know, Hermione, you would have made a wonderful Slytherin! You are so creative with your hexes!' Pansy said in admiration. She then told Millicent about Marietta Edgecombe, and how Hermione had a hand in spelling 'SNEAK' across her face.

Millicent and Pansy were both roaring with laughter by the end of the story, and soon Hermione couldn't help but join in. Pansy and Millicent than told Hermione about various pranks they had played on their fellow Slytherins.

Hermione thought they were as bad as the Weasley twins and told them so.

'The only difference is,' Pansy said with a smug smile, 'We never did get caught for them! Nobody knows who the pranksters are!'

'True Slytherins then!' Hermione said, knowing they would take that as the highest compliment.

It was after curfew when the girls finally decided it was time to leave. Hermione hugged them both; she felt a lot better after spending the evening with them. She smiled when she thought of what good friends they had all become. In less than one term, she went from only having Harry and Ron, to having a whole group of girls she could depend on. She thought of what Morgaine had said in her 'journal,' there truly was something special about having girls you could talk things through with. There really was power in a woman's voice.

The three girls quietly started to walk down the seven flights of stairs, Pansy hadn't brought her invisibility cloak with her, and they were worried about getting caught. When they reached the main hall, they whispered goodnight as Hermione headed back up to Gryffindor tower and the two Slytherins headed towards their common room.

Hermione hadn't gotten very far when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

'Miss Granger, are we out for a midnight stroll?' Professor Snape said this in a soft mocking tone as he melted out of the shadows to stand in front of her.

'Professor Snape!Sir, I…' She said in a high pitched voice. She couldn't think of a reasonable excuse for being out this late. Snape interrupted her before she could say anything else.

'Miss Granger, please come with me.' He said in a curt voice before turning on his heel and stalking away as his robes billowed behind him.

She jogged a few steps to catch up with his long strides, wondering where he was taking her. She followed him into his office, and he gestured for her to take a seat opposite his desk. He sat at the desk and steepled his fingers under his chin. He regarded her for a few seconds before speaking, making her want to squirm under his steady gaze.

'Miss Granger, What were you doing tonight?' He finally asked.

She blinked, she had been expecting him to rage at her, and assign her fifty detentions while taking house points. His voice was calm and low when he asked the unexpected question. She was so relieved he wasn't yelling that she almost gave him an honest answer to his question before she stopped herself. She thought about her words carefully, 'I was taking a walk, Professor Snape, I couldn't sleep.' She said in a casual voice. The professor shook his head and leaned forward.

'Try again, Miss Granger.' His voice was almost a whisper now and he was looking straight into his eyes.

She resisted the urge to fidget and cleared her throat.

'What do you mean, sir? I…I wasn't tired and thought a walk would help.' She said, her voice sounding a bit rough.

'Miss Granger, you are lying to me. I saw you say goodnight to Miss Parkinson and Miss Bulstrode.' He said.

Hermione's eyes widened and she bit down on her bottom lip.

'Er… yes sir. Um… I just ran into them in the hall…on my walk.'

'Miss Granger, are you becoming friends with Miss Parkinson?'

Hermione thought about what she should say. Pansy had told her that Snape had paired them up with the intention that the two girls become friends. It would only make it seem as Pansy was doing what she was told. Hermione would just need to make sure Pansy is made aware of whatever Hermione told Professor Snape. She had been hanging out with enough Slytherins lately to know that he would double check her story.

Hermione took a deep breath, 'Yes sir, I suppose I am a bit. I mean, we work really well together in your class, and she's quite intelligent.'

Snape was quiet for a moment after Hermione spoke.

'Miss Granger, you are aware of the work I do for the Order?' He asked in a low voice.

Hermione nodded silently.

'Due to the…unusual…nature of this work, I often times have to proceed very carefully when serving two masters.' As he said this, Hermione saw a slight grimace cross his face and she felt a pang of sympathy for him. She wondered what it would be like to have to face Voldemort on a regular basis.

'Miss Granger, I must warn you against forming any sort of attachment to Miss Parkinson.'

Hermione had to hold back a smile. Snape was warning her about Voldemort's plan! This proved that he was fighting for the side of the light. He was trying to protect her. Working with Pansy had caused Hermione to start doubting Snape's true allegiance. She was relieved to find that he was still on their side.

She tried to look dismayed at his statement, knowing the role she needed to play.

'But sir, surely it cannot be a bad thing to build some unity between the houses… like the sorting hat said in its song.'

The corners of Snape's mouth were down turned in reaction to her idealism. 'You do not know Miss Parkinson as I do, Miss Granger. Please believe me when I tell you that she has ulterior motives for befriending you.' He said in a curt voice.

Hermione nodded and looked down at her feet. 'Yes sir.' She said, trying to sound disappointed. _I can't wait to tell Pansy about this!_ She thought to herself.

'I believe it is time you got back to your dorm, Miss Granger.' Snape said, his tone gentling in response to her apparent disappointment. He stood and walked towards the door, waiting for her to precede him.

'I will walk you to the Gryffindor tower so that you do not get caught by Mr. Filch.'

Snape was silent as they walked towards her dormitory. When they reached portrait of the fat lady, he grasped her elbow before she could climb through. He was standing rather close to her, and she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

He leaned down to speak softly in her ear and she recognized the scent of sandalwood and chocolate that she had smelled on him in the bookshop.

'Miss Granger, I know you had hoped to be friends with Miss Parkinson. Try not to be too disappointed, you must remember to be more on guard, especially with members of my own house.'

Hermione's breath hitched at his closeness, and her heart started to beat a little faster. He was so close she could feel the heat from him, and his breath was warm on her cheek.

'Thank You, sir. I appreciate your looking out for me.' She said, her voice sounding just a bit breathless. He stood up straight, nodded at her and quickly strode away. Hermione watched him walk away before entering the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione sighed gratefully when she entered a silent common room. It was quiet late, and the rest of Gryffindor had gone to bed. She could see remnants of the Quidditch celebration scattered about the room in the form of sweets wrappers and butterbeer bottles.

She quickly walked to her dorm room, and changed for bed. Once in her bed, she pulled the bed curtains closed, and lay back in the bed, thinking about the night. It had been an eventful evening. She heard soft snores coming from the next bed over, Lavender was fast asleep. Hermione wondered how Lavender would act towards her tomorrow. The other girl had been with Ron when Hermione had set her canaries after him.

Hermione smiled when she remembered Pansy and Millicent's reaction to her story. She was so glad she had found them to be such good friends. It was so nice to talk with other girls about her problems, and to know that they sympathized and understood.

She then thought about her conversation with Professor Snape this evening. He had stood so close to her outside in the hallway. She felt goose bumps rise on her arms as she thought of his breath on her face.

She had liked the way it felt to have him stand so close. During one of their slumber parties, the Slytherin girls had all talked about how sexy Professor Snape was. At the time, Hermione had protested along with all the other girls. Professor Snape was greasy and cruel, not sexy. Hermione remembered what Daphne had said in his defense; _'He's not nice and handsome in a classical sense but his eyes are amazing! They are so intense and full of passion… and that voice! All soft and smooth, I could listen to him talk forever!" _Hermione hadn't understood at the time and had just wrinkled her nose at the thought of Snape being sexy. Tonight had changed her opinion of him. She understood what Daphne was talking about now. She wondered, as she had at the bookshop this summer, what it was that made him smell like chocolate. Sandalwood wasn't too surprising, it was a rather masculine scent and seemed to be a good fit for a potions professor, but chocolate? _Where did the chocolate smell come from?_ She thought to herself.

Hermione sighed; she needed to stop focusing on what her defense professor smelt like. There were more pressing matters to think of.

She knew it was time to tell the other girls about Professor Snape's role as a spy. Tonight had made that clear to her. She knew it was a vital piece of information, and not everybody could know, but she trusted the other girls now. Pansy, especially, needed to know that Snape was someone they could trust. It was time to lay all their cards on the table.

Hermione felt a small pang of nervousness as she walked into the seventh floor classroom on Monday night, she wasn't looking forwards to revealing Snape's secret. Some of the girls were already paired off and practicing Occlumency with each other when she arrived. Since their last slumber party, the latest practice sessions were checkered with the girls bursting into laughter. The girls were all working on projecting fake images in their minds and the images tended to be rather amusing; they all decided that Luna was the best at this.

Hermione wiped her wet hands against her school robes before announcing loudly, 'I need to talk to everyone please. It's rather important.'

She waited until all the girls had gotten comfortable as she resumed her place in front of the couches. She was reminded of the first time they had all met here in this room. The only difference was that Pansy wasn't standing beside her; the Slytherin witch currently had the same curious look on her face as every other girl, as they waited for Hermione to speak.

Hermione cleared her throat.

'Okay, well, I have to tell you all a secret. I think that we have gotten to the point where we can trust each other, and its time you all know of this. Harry, Ron and Ginny already know about this,' she said, nodding towards the red head. Ginny smiled slightly as the other girls looked towards her.

'What I have to tell you is about Professor Snape. You all remember our first meeting when Pansy told us he was a Death Eater. Well, that is true. He is one… or rather, he _was_ one.' Hermione noticed that most of the girls looked confused at her choice of words. She continued before anyone could interrupt.

'Snape became a Death Eater when he was quite young… I think he was 18. I am not sure when exactly this happened, but while Voldemort was still in power; Snape came to Dumbledore and begged for help. It was about that time that he started teaching here at Hogwarts. Since then, Snape has been a spy for Dumbledore.'

Hermione heard a number of gasps when she said this, only the Slytherins kept their faces blank.

'How do you know?' Pansy asked in a skeptical voice. 'For that matter, how does Ginny or her brother or Potter know? Why do you all have this information?'

Hermione told the girls about staying at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. She couldn't tell them where it was exactly, because of the fidelity charm, but she explained how they had spent their summer before fifth year. She went on to tell them about Sirius Black and the fight in the Department of Mysteries.

With the exception of Ginny and Luna, all the girls looked surprised at the end of Hermione's narrative. She had just given them a lot of information to digest.

It was a few minutes before anyone said anything and it was Pansy who broke the silence first.

'Are you sure we can trust Snape? Why was he helping us to be friends? Remember, he told me he had paired us up so I could make friends with you and follow the Dark Lord's orders.' When she said this, a number of the girls nodded their heads in agreement.

Hermione told them about Saturday evening when Snape had caught her after curfew.

'He was trying to warn me away from you Pansy. It was actually kind of funny.' She said telling them about how she had acted disappointed and sad that her new friend might have ulterior motives.

'I think he felt sorry for me!' She finished, smiling at the memory. 'I really played up my disappointment over the fact that you weren't really my new best friend.'

Millicent turned towards Ginny, 'Do you trust Snape, Gin?' she asked. Most of the girls looked towards Ginny to see what she had to say.

She nodded slowly, as she thought about it.

'Yes… I do. He was at a lot of the Orders' meetings that summer and I eavesdropped on a few before Mum discovered our extendable ears. I think he is spying on Voldemort for Dumbledore. Besides, Dumbledore trusts him and the Headmaster is the most powerful wizard in the world.'

Millicent nodded, accepting what Ginny said before she turned back towards Hermione.

'You trust him too?' She said looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded.

'I think he is walking a fairly thin line. He has to show his loyalty to Voldemort by helping Pansy, but he also has to prevent Voldemort from succeeding.'

'Should we tell him?' Susan Bones spoke up, 'Tell him that we are on his side and can help him?' Susan was a Hufflepuff through and through, and hated to think of anyone in pain or suffering.

Hermione was already shaking her head when Pansy spoke up.

'No, I don't think we should tell him… yet.'

'Voldemort is a strong Legilimens,' Pansy said. 'I don't want him to find out about us through Snape's mind.'

'I agree with Pansy,' Hermione said. 'Snape is actually a strong Occlumens, so maybe we can tell him later. But, for now I think, this should be our secret. Just us girls.'

'Snape is a strong Occlumens?' Anjali asked in an excited voice.

Hermione nodded, 'He tried to teach Harry Occlumency last year, apparently it's the reason he has been such a good spy for Dumbledore.'

Anjali looked at Padma, they had become friends and they frequently partnered up to practice their Legilimency and Occlumency.

'Maybe we could use him!' She said to the Indian girl. Padma's eyes were twinkling as she nodded slowly. 'That's a good idea; we should give it a try.'

The two girls smiled at each other before Anjali stood up and stepped to the front of the room. 'Padma and I had an idea.'

Hermione sat in Anjali's seat, gratefully relinquishing her place in the front of the room.

'Padma and I were thinking about the fake images we have been practicing lately.' Anjali said.

'We have all gotten better at it lately and obviously we all feel confident with our Occlumency and Legilimency.' The rest of the girls nodded when she said this. They had all worked hard and felt proud at what they had accomplished in such a short time.

'Padma and I found one problem. We are all so comfortable with each other. We have never had our skills tested by someone outside of our group.'

Hermione looked at Pansy and could tell they were thinking the same thing. It would be disastrous if Pansy tried Occlumency against Bellatrix over the holidays and was unsuccessful.

'We need to try our skill against someone we aren't comfortable with. Somebody who's mind is unfamiliar to us.' Anjali said. 'If Snape knows Legilimency and Occlumency, maybe we can test it on him.'

'How are we going to do that?' Tracey Davis spoke up. 'We already agreed not to tell him what we are doing. It would be suspicious if eleven girls, all of a sudden asked him to train us in Occlumency and Legilimency. Not to mention the fact that only Slytherins would be brave enough to ask him for anything.'

'We have a plan for that.' Padma said, as she stood up next to Anjali.

'We need to do two things; we need to prompt Snape to use Legilimency, and then imagine something that will surprise him enough to get a reaction. He is pretty good at hiding his emotions, so it will have to be pretty drastic. The only way we will know if our fake image is working, is by his reaction.' Anjali said slowly.

'We thought,' Padma said, taking over for Anjali, 'if we were acting out of character in class, maybe Snape would use Legilimency to find out what was wrong or different.'

'Like if we smiled after he yelled at us, or even laughed out loud.' Anjali said.

'So, if I laughed at him, instead of acting terrified, He might use Legilimency to find out why I'm acting that way.' Jarilyn said with a smile.

'Right,' Padma said. 'Then you just have to make sure he can maintain eye contact with you, and imagine something that is so horrifying that he can't hide his reaction.'

Pansy smiled her Slytherin smile, 'Something horrifying… like an image of you having sex with Snape right there on his desk.'

Hermione felt herself blush and noticed she wasn't the only one. Daphne laughed as she noticed the red faces. 'It might not work for me, given my reputation, but it will definitely work for some of you Gryffindors.'

'Daphne, you could imagine yourself hunting Crumple-horned Snorkaks!' Luna said. The girls erupted in giggles.

'This is a great idea,' Millicent said, looking at Anjali and Padma. 'I say we take a week to perfect our fake image, and then we test Snape out.'

The next week, unfortunately, in her opinion, flew by for Hermione. The girls met frequently as they worked out their fake images and practiced on each other. Hermione still felt her cheeks grow pink when she thought of the fake image Pansy had helped her devise. She bit her lip nervously as she walked towards the defense classroom. They had decided to include Dumbledore in their test as well as Snape. Snape would get suspicious if every one of them acted strangely and was imagining something completely out of character. Today would be their first day of testing, with Hermione going first.

Hermione felt herself break out into a cold sweat as she entered the classroom. She took her seat next to Pansy, trying not to let her nervousness show.

'Relax!' Pansy whispered into her left ear. 'You look really suspicious and you are fidgeting!'

Hermione took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. _I can do this. I can't believe I'm going to do this! Why did I agree to this?_

In typical fashion, Snape burst into the classroom, slamming the door behind him. He immediately started to lecture the class on casting silent spells. At this point, most of the class had mastered simple spells without speaking. The harder and more difficult the spell; the more focus and energy it would take to cast silently. Snape asked the class if anyone could name some of the defensive spells that used the most energy and focus of the caster.

Hermione bit her lip and almost felt like sitting on her hands. The first part of 'their plan' was to act in a way that would prompt Snape to use Legilimency. Pansy pointed out that all Hermione had to do was avoid participating in class, and that would be enough to make him suspicious.

Severus stalked around the classroom as he lectured the students on defensive spells. A majority of the dunderheads had a glazed look in their eyes, and he wondered if they ever listened to anything he tried to cram into their hard skulls. He curtly barked out a question, and then slowly let his gaze drift around the classroom waiting for someone to volunteer the answer. After waiting a few seconds, he looked towards Granger; parroting the textbook was better than nothing.

To his surprise, Miss Granger did not have her hand in the air. He briefly thought that the day her hand was not eagerly waving in the air should be declared a national holiday.

Snape allowed himself a small sneer, 'Well, well, our resident know it all doesn't have the answer? Will wonders never cease?' He said, lowering his voice an octave as he strode towards her, weaving around a few desks.

When he stood in front of her and Parkinson he spoke again, 'Miss Granger, I'm surprised. Could it be that you did not complete the reading?'

'Per… Perhaps I am just trying to please you by not being a 'know it all'.' She said, her voice shaky. She then tried to affect a smug smile.

It might have been effective if her face hadn't turned an unflattering shade of pink.

_Interesting,_ he though, _what is she up to? _He glanced at Miss Parkinson and wondered if this was her influence.

'Ten points from Gryffindor Miss Granger, for your impertinence.'

There had been a 'murmur' throughout the classroom when Miss Granger had spoken. The class had never seen her talk back to a professor before. Snape quickly turned to face the rest of the class. 'Take out your books and read chapter 14, after you are finished I want three feet on the energy used by three different defensive spells, you may choose which ones you want to write about.'

Snape stalked back to his desk and sat down before looking back at Miss Granger.

She was still acting nervously and was now white rather then pink in the face. Her eyes were wide and she was staring right at him. He was becoming impatient with her behavior, _what on earth was making the girl so nervous?_ He looked into her eyes and silently cast Legilimens on her; he wanted to know what was making her act so unusually.

Severus had to hold back a gasp as he entered her mind. Her mind must have been wide open because he was immediately thrown into what must have been a daydream

_She was sitting on top of the desk with her legs straddled on either side of him, her skirt was hiked up around her hips and he could see the expanse of her white thighs. He kissed her passionately while unbuttoning her blouse to reveal a lacy black bra. Her legs came up to wind around his hips as she threw her head back and pressed her lace covered breasts closer to him. She moaned his name as he pulled aside one lacy cup of her bra to suckle on her breast. She reached between them and slowly unzipped his pants to free his erection. 'I'm so wet and ready for you! I want you inside of me now!' _

'_I'm going to slam myself inside of you and ride you hard!' he said back in a rough voice. _

_Snape watched breathlessly as the fantasy Hermione ran her fingers through his hair and moaned. Fantasy Snape was slowly pulling off her knickers_ …when he came to his senses and ended the Legilimens.

Tearing himself away from her gaze he took a few deep breaths trying to compose himself. He didn't know what was more unbelievable, that the Gryffindor know it all was daydreaming in class, or that she had such creative and graphic daydreams.

He realized that her little fantasy had made him rock hard, and he felt a flash of shame as he adjusted himself underneath his robes. He would not be getting up to stalk around the classroom today.

After he had composed himself enough he looked up towards Miss Granger. She had opened her book and was quietly writing her essay.

_AN: Please review! This is my first ever fanfic and you just read my first attempt at adding a little lemon to my story, even if the lemons only took place inside Hermione's mind. Was it at all believable? What do you think? Was it hot or was it boring? Constructive criticism, ideas, suggestions are all welcome!_

_I hope you enjoyed seeing a good deal more of Snape in this chapter. I promise that he will become a major player in this story from now on!_

_AN: I want to thank everyone who has already reviewed this story, every time I get a review it gives me a burst of writing energy and it makes me want to update all the sooner!_


	8. Chapter 8: Love and Blood

**Chapter 8: love and blood**

**See disclaimer in previous chapters.**

**A/N: I want to apologize for the wait on this chapter. I know it's been a long time coming. I am in the process of quitting my job, and moving to a new city. It's amazing how much work goes into moving!**

_The _adminadverto femina_ is effective because it devised of the purest intentions for women who held a special bond. So we began by celebrating that bond, my sister. We performed a blood ritual of the strongest magics. This ritual must be entered into with pure loyalty and love. Nothing less will do and anything less could be the end of you. It is not magic that can be tampered with. _

_There were six of us and we pledged to be sisters for all time. We vowed eternal loyalty and love to each other, with everything in us, never to be broken. Even now, as I approach my final days, I have not broken my bond with my sisters. We have moved on, the _adminadverto_ has been fulfilled, but the bond was never broken. _

_Indeed, the bond couldn't ever be broken. The unbreakable bond of sisterhood, it was something that no man could possibly understand. No matter what magics were used; lust, force, persuasion, love, nothing was effective against a bond of sisterhood. A bond of women._

_My sister, if you are in need of this magic, find your sisters, and know now that they will be your sisters for evermore. _

_For evermore within your bodies, minds and souls._

_As this ritual is a celebration of women, it will need to be performed on the night of the full moon..._

**Excerpt from 'The Blessings of a Witch.'**

Hermione thought her stomach might burst from laughing so hard. Over the next few weeks, each of the girls had taken her turn testing her Occlumency. For three weekends in a row they had a slumber part on Saturday night in order to review their experiences. Ginny had just finished telling her story and all the girls had erupted into fresh bursts of laughter. Always quick on the uptake, Ginny had gone to transfiguration class early to find Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall talking. Struck with inspiration, Ginny had walked up to say hello and acted like she was trying to hide something. Dumbledore had silently cast Legilimens on her to see a romantic daydream between Ginny and McGonagall. The girls were rolling on the floor by the time Ginny described Professor McGonagall pulling her aside the next day to tell her that 'having feelings for a professor isn't wrong, and she shouldn't be ashamed, but please understand that it would never work out.'

'Ginny you are absolutely brilliant!' Millicent said as she shrieked with laughter. 'I would have given anything to see the look on Dumbledore's face after seeing your daydream!'

'I think he turned purple!' Ginny said as she tried to imitate the way his usually twinkling eyes had widened and he had opened and closed his mouth three or four times before he quickly gave an excuse and fled the classroom. The girls continued laughing as they all tried to imagine the unflappable headmaster turning purple.

It was Susan who was finally able to break their hilarity.

'Oh my gods,' Susan abruptly said in a serious tone of voice. The laughter died down as the girls sensed that Susan was distressed about something.

'Susan? What's wrong?' Jarilyn asked in a low voice. Susan was staring off into space with a scared look on her face.

'I just realized something. Ginny, you fooled Professor Dumbledore. He believed the Occlumency you projected.'

Ginny shrugged, 'Yeah, so? Lots of us have in the past few weeks.'

'Think about it. Dumbledore. The headmaster, the only wizard that Voldemort is afraid of! You fooled someone who is arguably the most powerful wizard in Great Britain!'

The room was silent as the girls thought about what Susan had said. Until now, they had not thought about the implications of their Occlumency projections. It had almost turned into a game about who could be the most creative when they tried to fool their professor or headmaster.

'I guess we never considered it in those terms.' Millicent said after the long moment of silence.

'We have come really far since our first meeting here.' Jarilyn said, her voice trembling.

'I guess the book was right.' Hermione said, her voice slightly strained.

'Women are more powerful than men. Each one of us could probably fool Dumbledore. That has to mean something.'

'Mean something! It's incredible. For the first time, I am not so worried about going home for Christmas. I can handle Bellatrix Lestrange. If I can fool Dumbledore, I can fool her!' Pansy said excitedly.

Pansy had projected an image of herself working in the greenhouse with Neville Longbottom and Colin Creevey. Dumbledore had later spoken to her about inter-house unity and how it would be okay if she wanted to be friends with some of the Gryffindors.

Hermione took a deep breath.

'Girls, I think its time for us to take the next step,' she said looking around the room at her friends. She stood up and pulled Morgaine's Journal out of her book bag; she never went anywhere without the book nowadays.

She placed it on the floor and the girls gathered around the book as Hermione thumbed through, looking for the right part.

'Here,' she said pointing to a ritual spell.

'I think it's time we did this. We are ready. I trust you girls with my life now and we have definitely mastered Legilimency and Occlumency.'

She was pointing to a complicated blood bonding ritual. It was the first step towards the _Aminadverto Femina._

Snape let out a breath slowly as he let his eyes move over his sixth year class. It was the first week in December and the students were already starting to get restless for the holidays. He had gone the easy route and assigned an essay in an effort to keep them quiet.

He felt a now familiar feeling of confusion as his eyes rested briefly on Hermione Granger. He didn't know what to think about her. She was quietly whispering to Pansy Parkinson as the rest of the class quietly wrote their essays. The annoying Gryffindor who had almost been religious in her zeal to show respect for all of her professors, was whispering with a Slytherin while they were supposed to be working. She had obviously not heeded his warning to stay away from that Parkinson girl, he decided, feeling frustrated.

He didn't want Granger to get involved in this. The information he had uncovered about Voldemort's project, talked vaguely about a '_slight variance in power_.' He wasn't sure yet what that meant, but Granger was a powerful and intelligent witch. He wouldn't admit this to anyone, but he respected the witch, and didn't want her to loose any of that potential.

Something was going on with Granger, he thought as he watched the two girls smile at each other as they continued to whisper. He was going to need to watch her more closely, her behavior was decidedly odd. He wondered if it was due to Parkinson's influence. He briefly considered using Legilimency on the two girls, just to see what they had been discussing so earnestly, but he immediately disregarded that idea. He didn't want a repeat of the last time he had tried using Legilimency on Miss Granger.

Snape shifted in his seat as he remembered Hermione Granger's fantasy, and grimaced. He needed to stop thinking of that, he thought to himself as he remembered the way she had looked in her fantasy; on top of the desk with her blouse unbuttoned and her skirt bunched up around her hips. He felt his body reacting to the memory before he could stop his line of thinking. He was not used to being the object of any woman's fantasy.

He looked back at Miss Granger and Miss Parkinson; they had stopped whispering but were staring straight into each others eyes and Miss Granger put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. _Why are they staring into each other eyes?_

Since he had watched Miss Grangers fantasy, he had taken more notice of her in class and this was not the first time he had seen the girls looking at each other that way. Whatever it meant, he wagered that it had to do with Miss Parkinson's work for the Dark Lord. He decided that it was time to have another talk with Miss Granger.

'Miss Granger, I have asked you to write an essay; that does not involve speaking with your classmates.' He snapped out, startling a few students by breaking the silence in the room.

Miss Granger and Miss Parkinson looked up at him guiltily before bending their heads over their essays.

Hermione had almost made it out of the classroom before she heard his voice.

'Miss Granger, a word before you go.' He said silkily. She smiled reassuringly at Harry, who was scowling at the professor.

'I'll catch up. See you,' she said, before turning back towards Professor Snape.

'Yes, sir.' Hermione said, moving to stand in front of his desk where he was sitting.

'I apologize for today, sir. I shouldn't have been talking in class.' She said before he could speak, deciding that it was better to get it over with.

This last weekend, the girls had agreed with Hermione about doing the blood bonding ritual. They were all feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement, this was very powerful magic from the time of Avalon, and it needed to be done just right. Both Pansy and Hermione had not been able to resist talking about it, even though they were in class. Pansy had used Legilimency to tell Hermione that Snape was watching them, making Hermione laugh when she urged Hermione to craft another _fantasy_ for 'Snape's viewing pleasure.' When Snape had spoken, Hermione had felt immediately guilty. She couldn't believe she had let Pansy distract her from her work, she knew she deserved whatever Snape said.

He looked at her for a minute before standing up and moving around his desk. He came to stand in front of her before flicking his wand towards the door, startling her when it was shut and locked.

He leaned forward and grasped her arm above her elbow as she tilted her head back to look at him.

'Miss Granger, I have already warned you about Miss Parkinson.' He said, keeping his voice low.

'There is more at stake here than just inter-house unity. You can not afford to be taken in by her.'

Hermione had to hold back a smile as Professor Snape warned her about Pansy. Pansy had just received a letter from her father, congratulating her on the good job she was doing. One of her fellow Slytherins had seen her speaking with Hermione in the hall and had reported back to their parents. Voldemort had gotten word and assumed that Pansy was working hard to befriend Hermione and complete her assignment.

After reading the letter, the girls decided that they should act more friendly towards Pansy from now in public. Voldemort would think that Pansy was making progress on her project for him, and they didn't want to risk her getting into trouble when she was home for the holidays.

'Professor, I know what I am doing.' She said, thinking about her words carefully. She didn't want to make him worry, but she couldn't reveal any of her secrets.

'You are being naive if you think you can handle this. Miss Parkinson is only befriending you in order to use you.' He took a deep breath as if gearing up for something.

'Miss Granger, Miss Parkinson is working for the Dark Lord. What she is working on will directly affect you and you need to be on guard.

Despite what you think, I do realize that you have enormous potential Miss Granger. I don't want to see that go to waste.'

'What is she working on?' Hermione asked, wondering how much information he would trust her with.

He looked away from her for a minute before turning back to her, his face blank.

'You know the nature of my work. I cannot say anymore.' He said, his voice so low she had to lean forward to hear him clearly.

Their faces were close and she felt his breath on her face. His hand, still on her arm above her elbow had softened and his thumb was moving up and down in a soft caress. She idly noticed that, if possible, he was looking even more gaunt and thin than he had at the beginning of the year.

She felt a small pang of worry for him; Voldemort had been very active lately, and it was probably an added stress for the spy.

She heard a noise outside of the classroom door and the moment was broken. He blinked once and immediately let go of her arm as if she had burned him. She took a step back as well and gave him a small smile.

'I guess I should get to my next class.' He flicked his wand towards the door, unlocking it.

'Indeed. Miss Granger, remember what I have said; you need to be careful of Miss Parkinson. She is deeply involved in the Dark Lords plans and you are no match for her.'

Hermione scowled at that. How dare he imply that she couldn't handle Pansy, he probably only thought that way because Pansy was a Slytherin. _Well, I am capable of handling any Slytherin_, she thought to herself angrily.

'Sir, I can handle Pansy Parkinson. I know what I am doing!' She said, before turning and walking out the classroom. She stopped just at the door when he called her name.

'Oh, Miss Granger, before I forget, twenty points from Gryffindor for talking in class.'

She let out a breath in frustration.

'Fine. Thank You Professor,' she ground out before leaving the classroom.

The girls had decided to perform their ritual on the last day of school before they left for the holidays. It would be the night of Slughorn's Christmas Party. The ritual needed to be performed during a full moon, which was a greater source of power than any other stage of the moon. They would meet in their classroom at eleven and be ready to perform the ritual by midnight.

One week before the night of the ritual, Hermione came into defense class and sat near Pansy. Ron and Harry were in deep conversation across the room and she didn't bother saying hi. She only ever saw Harry when he decided to study with her in the library. She sighed; things were so different this year. Her time was almost all used up between classes, the slug club and her time with the girls. She wondered how Ginny managed to do all of that _and_ Quidditch.

Pansy turned to Hermione after hearing her sigh.

'What's wrong?'

Snape hadn't entered the classroom yet so it was still safe to talk.

'I was just thinking about how things have changed this year. I barely see Harry anymore and Ron… well, you know.'

Pansy looked over at Harry and Ron and narrowed her eyes at the boy with the ginger hair.

'I wish you would let me hex him. Him and that slag, Lavender Brown. Even her name is ridiculous.'

Hermione let out a short laugh.

'I'm mostly over it. I just feel like he humiliated me, leading me on… I mean, he said he would be going to slug's Christmas Party with me. I thought we understood each other.'

'You could do so much better than him. Besides, you heard what Padma said the other day. He's a lousy date.' Pansy said, still scowling in his direction.

'You know, Pans, I agree with you. I deserve better than him.' Hermione said, trying to bolster herself up.

'Oh… I have an idea.' Pansy said in an excited voice. 'You should make him jealous, Hermione. Go to the party with someone who would make him jealous!' Pansy exclaimed; she was wearing her Slytherin smile.

Hermione mimicked her smile, looking just a bit Slytherin herself.

'You know, Cormac McLaggen would make him really jealous. Cormac was his competition for keeper on the Quidditch team. In fact, if it weren't for me, Ron wouldn't even be on the Quidditch team. Cormac would.'

Pansy didn't get a chance to reply, as Snape took that moment to slam into the classroom. She tapped Hermione on the arm and they met each others eyes. Pansy silently cast Legilimens; _I still can't believe you used the confundus to effect the Quidditch tryouts!_ _I'll make a Slytherin out of you yet… That is a perfectly brilliant idea, take Cormac to the party!' _

Hermione stifled her giggle before resolutely looking back up at Snape so she could take notes like the know-it-all that she was.

The day of the party had arrived cold and dry. The girls had spent the last few weeks reading Morgaine's journal and practicing all the different aspects of the blood ritual. The ritual itself seemed simple enough, but everything had to be done exactly right. They also needed to wear the right clothes, bathe thoroughly prior to the ritual, and Hermione was given the task of finding the proper ritual knife, necessary for blood ceremonies.

Getting Cormac to come to the party had been surprisingly easy for Hermione. A little make-up and an adoring stare and he leapt at the chance to come with her to the party. After two hours, she decided it really hadn't been worth it. After ducking Cormac McLaggen and avoiding anything resembling mistletoe, Hermione decided she was done with the party. She saw Luna standing in the corner with Professor Trelawney.

'Luna, I'm going to go up to my dorm now… where is Harry?' She asked, noticing that he wasn't anywhere near his date.

Luna shrugged, but leaned in to whisper.

'He left, said he had something to do. Malfoy was caught gate crashing and Snape left with him. I think Harry was following them.'

Hermione sighed. Pansy had said that Draco was working for Voldemort. Harry wasn't wrong in his suspicions, but Hermione couldn't help but wish he would keep his nose out of it. She was worried it may eventually lead to Pansy. Nobody seemed to know what Draco's assignment was but the girls decided to be as cautious as possible around him.

'Well, I'm going to head up and start getting ready. I'll see you at eleven.'

Luna smiled at her, her excitement for tonight was evident in her eyes. She grasped Hermione's hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

'See you then.'

Stepping out into the cold, dark, night, Hermione shivered as she walked quietly along with the other girls. They were all dressed in a pair of white silk lounge pants and a matching white silk tank top; procured by the wealthier Slytherins of their ranks. They were barefoot, devoid of all makeup and jewelry and had all recently taken baths to cleanse themselves in preparation. They were all pink from a combination of their recent scrubbing and the cold of the December night.

What they were doing would have been considered madness to an outside observer. Eleven girls entered the forbidden forest under the light of a full moon in December, they were lucky it hadn't snowed yet this year. When they reached the clearing in the forest, scouted earlier by Pansy and Millicent, they assembled themselves into a circle without speaking. They had talked at length about this ritual and knew exactly what needed to happen. There was no need to talk, and Hermione suspected, they were all a little too nervous and overwhelmed to talk.

Hermione looked at Pansy, standing directly opposite her in the circle. Pansy would start the ritual when she felt ready.

They had decided to represent each of their houses in the four points of the circle. Hermione and Pansy represented Gryffindor and Slytherin, while Susan and Luna stood for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Pansy took a deep breath, meeting Hermione's eyes for a moment before closing her own.

'I stand here in a circle of my sisters. I stand for my values and my house of the snake, I come in love.'

Hermione spoke next, 'I stand here in a circle of my sisters. I stand for my values and my house of the lion. I come in love.'

'I stand here in a circle of my sisters. I stand for my values and my house of the hedgehog. I come in love.'

'I stand here in a circle of my sisters. I stand for my values and my house of the raven. I come in love.'

After they had each spoke for their houses, all four girls raised their arms above their heads.

'We call upon the goddess to protect us and to accept our supplication. Goddess, Mother, Sister, Friend. We call upon you, we ask for your love. We ask for your protection. We ask for your wisdom. We ask for your Peace.'

The four girls said this together once before the other girls joined in, their eyes closed and arms outstretched. They repeated the words three times before opening their eyes.

There were small gasps of surprise when they opened their eyes. Their circle was surrounded by a large shimmering violet bubble of light. Once the ritual is begun, the casters are supposed to be protected from outside harm or interference. Hermione supposed that their violet bubble served as protection. She felt a small flash of relief, it was a full moon after all, and she had a healthy fear of werewolves after her third year.

Pansy held her arms out front with her palms up. An Athame Ritual knife was lying across her palms. Hermione smiled when she saw the knife, remembering that in the end, after hours of endless research and searching, she had simply asked her mom to order it for her on eBay of all places.

When Pansy spoke, her voice vibrated with emotion and her eyes seemed to be lit within.

'I come into the circle with my sisters. Closer than any family. I denounce the Lord of my parents and forsake their ways. Instead I give it all to my sisters. My love, my faith, my support. I come here in love with my sisters, from now and evermore, they have my body, soul, and mind.'

Hermione felt her heart swell with excitement. Each girl was required to make a vow to her sisters, up until now they had not revealed what their vows would be. After Pansy said her vow, she used the knife to cut an 'X' across the palm of her wand hand, making sure that some of her blood remained on the knife. She then passed the knife to Daphne who stood on her left. Daphne laid the knife across her palms and stretched her arms out in front of her.

'I come into the circle with my sisters. Closer than any family. I denounce the loves of my past and turn away from my days of old. I am a new person, alive and pure in the love of my sisters. I give my heart, and my devotion to my sisters whom I will fully support to the end of my life. From now and evermore, my sisters have my body, soul, and mind.' Daphne mimicked Pansy by cutting her hand with the knife before passing it to Padma, who denounced her relationship with her twin sister before passing the knife on. The knife went from Padma to Luna and to Ginny, who denounced her brothers for her new family of sisters, before it was passed along to Hermione.

Hermione held the knife out on her palms. 'I come into the circle of my sisters. Closer than any family. I denounce the love of two men. Friends forged in battle, bonds never broken by conflict. I give the battle and the bonds to my sisters. I place my protection and my power in the hands and hearts of my sisters. I give them my faith and my confidence. From now and evermore, my sisters have my body, soul, and mind.'

She barely felt the sting as she cut the 'X' shape on her palm. The knife was red with the blood of her sisters and she added hers before passing it along to Anjali.

From Anjali, the knife went to Jarilyn, Susan, Tracey, and Millicent. After Millicent had cut her palm, she handed the knife back to Pansy.

When she looked at Pansy, Hermione noticed that her eyes were shining with moisture. She realized then, that every other girl in the circle, including herself had wet cheeks and eyes. Pansy threw the knife forward. It floated to the direct center of the circle where it landed and stuck into the ground. The girls clasped their hands and held them up. Speaking in unison, 'We come before the goddess, bonded by blood. We are sisters in our hearts in our bodies and in our souls. Goddess, we ask that you bless our bond. Forged in secret and in power. Maintained by trust, faith, and love.'

They repeated themselves three times and Hermione felt the wind pick up her hair, whipping it around her face. She felt overcome by emotion. She had the urge to laugh and weep at the same time, but also felt a strange peace come over her. It was indescribable, Hermione thought of what Dumbledore had always said, and she wondered if they were feeling Love in its truest and most raw form. It was truly powerful and she could understand what Dumbledore had meant.

_A/N: Well that's it; the first part of the spell, what do you think?_

_That ritual has been in my head since I began writing this so I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I am not a practicing wicca and made up the ritual, the only part that has any reality is that the ritual knives are called Athame ( I looked that up online). I honestly don't know anything about the wiccan religion and hope that this doesn't offend anyone, it wasn't meant to._

_A/N: I also want to thank you for your reviews so far. It really does help to hear what you think and I will definitely be taking that into account as I re-work my chapters._


	9. Chapter 9: What are you Thinking?

**Chapter 9: What are you thinking?**

A/N: Well my readers, I hoped to get this update out as soon as possible, enjoy.

Disclaimer: see previous chapters.

…_Speaking in unison, 'We come before the goddess, bonded by blood. We are sisters in our hearts in our bodies and in our souls. Goddess, we ask that you bless our bond. Forged in secret and in power. Maintained by trust, faith, and love.'_

_They repeated themselves three times and Hermione felt the wind pick up her hair, whipping it around her face. She felt overcome by emotion. She had the urge to laugh and weep at the same time, but also felt a strange peace come over her. It was indescribable, Hermione thought of what Dumbledore had always said, and she wondered if they were feeling Love in its truest and most raw form. It was truly powerful and she could understand what Dumbledore had meant……_

_**Excerpt from the end of Chapter 8**_

It was silent. Even the wind whirling around them was quiet as the girls stood within their shining protective bubble. Hermione didn't know how long they stood there in silence; it was as if they were waiting for something. Instinctively, she knew they were supposed to remain standing there; silent and unmoving.

All of a sudden the world became brighter; she looked up to notice that their bubble was changing colours. From violet to red to a blinding orange and she heard something like a drumbeat in her head. It began rhythmic and slow but increased in frequency and became louder and louder. She knew it was still silent in their clearing in the forest. She watched as the bright bubble seemed to be throbbing in time with the drumbeat in her head. Every girl had her head thrown back as they watched their bubble. It increased, faster and faster, louder and louder. Pounding over and over. It was primal and beautiful. Hermione felt as if she was being embraced, warm air blew around her, and she felt safe, secure, and loved.

One more whoosh of air around them and the drumbeat, which had increased to a frenzied beat, stopped. Their bubble burst. Each girl, including herself, crumpled to the ground.

As Hermione sat on the ground, she blinked and looked around. She felt overwhelmed by emotion, their ritual had been the most beautiful thing she had every experienced. She hoped she would never forget a moment of it for the rest of her life. She didn't feel up to talking yet, so she was surprised when she heard the voices of every other girl in their circle. They all seemed to start talking at once and she couldn't distinguish between who was saying what.

'_That was amazing…' 'Is that what love feels like?' 'I feel so special and so warm…' 'I hope I never forget…'_

Hermione couldn't believe they had the capacity to talk so soon after their experience. She looked around confusedly at the other girls, and than she realized something.

Nobody's lips were moving.

Hermione's mouth dropped open as she tried to puzzle out what was happening to them. Each girl was now looking around confused. Nobody had spoken yet. Hermione gasped as she realized what was happening. This was the special gift. They could communicate in each other's minds. Morgaine had mentioned that their bonding would bring them something special, and this was it. Hermione heard a voice in her head rise above the rest.

'_Hermione, can you hear me?'_ It was Pansy and she had managed to force her 'voice' to the forefront of Hermione's mind.

'_Pansy?'_ Hermione thought as she concentrated on the Slytherin girl.

'_This is amazing! I'm communicating with you and I don't have to look at you or cast Legilimens!'_ Pansy thought to her, and Hermione could feel a sense of glee and something a bit more calculating.

'_I can feel what you are feeling too!' _She thought to Pansy. _ 'When you think something towards me, I can hear you and feel what you are feeling.'_

'_So can the rest of us!'_ A new voice entered her head and she recognized it as Padma's.

'_I wonder if we can turn it off and on or if we will always hear each other's thoughts and feelings.'_ Hermione thought. Her mind was racing and she felt a myriad of questions overwhelm her. _Is it selective? Can they control their new power? How far does it reach? Will they be able to communicate while they are home over the holidays? Could they influence each others feelings? I need to research this._

'_HERMIONE! You're thinking too fast and too loud!' _She heard Millicent 'shout' into her head. She felt amusement and laughter from each of the girls in reaction. It felt so weird to feel so much at the same time.

'We are going to need to figure out how this gift works for us.' Hermione said aloud, and her voice sounded rusty and unused. She felt the startled reactions from each girl as the silence was broken. Once the silence was broken, the girls began to take in their surroundings. They sat in their clearing in the forest, still forming their initial circle. Hermione still felt warm from the spell, even if the December night air was freezing.

One by one, each girl stood up and looked around. The sky was a bit lighter than it had been when they had started their spell. Hermione realized with a start that it was almost dawn. _How long have we been out here? _She wondered how long they had stood there, listening to the drum beat as the spell completed itself.

'Well, I guess we should go in. Some of us have to leave this afternoon on the train.' Daphne said, as she stifled a yawn.

'_Snow!' _It was Luna who thought this, as they began to make their way to the castle, and Hermione looked up to watch the first flakes fall from the sky. Hermione felt a mixture of emotions; surprise, delight, and wonder from the other girls as they looked up. She smiled as she tried to distinguish between each girl's emotions. It was still disconcerting to feel eleven different sets of emotions, but she was starting to recognize which emotion matched its owner. She wanted to spend a few days researching telepathy and testing the bounds of their gift. She wanted to research.

'_I'm not going home. I need to stay here and research our gift.'_ She thought to the other girls.

'Will your parents be okay with you changing plans so late?' Susan asked.

'I'll send them an owl. They won't be happy about it, but I'll tell them I have some important research to do for school. They understand stuff like that.' Hermione said. Ginny nodded, remembering that Hermione had used that excuse in the past to stay at Hogwarts over the Holidays.

'I'm staying too Hermione, I can help you with the research,' Tracey said. Hermione felt some delight and anticipation coming from Tracey at the thought of having company over the holidays. Tracey was one of the only Slytherin students staying over for Christmas.

Millicent stopped at the edge of the forest and addressed the other girls.

'We don't know anything about our gift, but it is going to take practice to get control over it. We need to know how to be selective about who we are communicating with, and we need to know if someone can sense it if they use Legilimency.'

'Since you are staying Hermione,' Anjali said, 'can you look into this? You can teach the rest of us how to control it when we get back, but you and Tracey can practice while we are gone.'

Hermione nodded, already making mental notes to herself to owl her parents to send her muggle books about the theory of telepathy. _I wonder if I could get to Diagon Alley_, she thought to herself, imagining Mr. Yosh's dusty little book shop. _Maybe I could owl Mr. Yosh…_

'_HEY, PAY ATTENTION!' _Ginny thought forced itself into Hermione's head. _'Pansy has been talking for a while and you were too busy thinking of bookstore's to hear what she had to say!'_

'_Oops. Do you think she noticed?' _Hermione looked over at Pansy with a sheepish look on her face.

'Of course I did! I can hear your thoughts too, and when you are thinking of research, they get louder!' Pansy said. 'We can all hear what you are thinking!'

'Who's Mr. Yosh and why did you think of Snape when you imagined his bookstore?' Daphne asked.

Hermione felt herself turning red as the other girls looked at her speculatively when Daphne mentioned Snape. 'It's just that, I found this great bookstore this summer on Diagon Alley and I happened to run into Professor Snape when I was there.' She tried to shrug nonchalantly.

'And you just happened to notice that he smelled like chocolate?' Daphne asked with humor in her voice. 'I knew you couldn't help but notice how sexy he is! It's not just me!'

Hermione was sure she was a full blown Gryffindor red when Daphne mentioned Snape smelling like chocolate.

'Urrgh! Get out of my head! We need to learn how to control this gift!' Hermione said in frustration. The other girls laughed at her tone of voice. Instinctively, Hermione put up her Occlumency barriers, imagining a brick wall being erected behind her forehead.

'_Hey!'_ Hermione heard Pansy's voice but it was faint, as if it was coming from very far away. _'I can just barely get through, but your Occlumency wall made a big difference.'_

Hermione dropped her wall, wanting to keep herself open to the other girls for now. She smiled at Pansy. 'Well, that's our first bit of research done. We know that Occlumency does make a difference!'

Before Pansy could reply to Hermione, Susan interrupted the conversation. 'Girls, we need to get going, the sun is coming up.' Most of the girls tilted their heads up to the sky, noticing the slight pink tint from the sun peeking through the cloudy sky.

'We need to get going. I need to finish what I was saying, before Hermione started dreaming about Snape,' Pansy said in a mocking voice as some of the girls chuckled quietly. 'I think that this morning, we need to continue to communicate with each other all morning. Keep our minds open to each other. We can test how far it will reach, like when we go to Hogsmead to catch the train. We need to know if our gift extends beyond the barriers of the school.'

The other girls nodded in agreement as they quietly made their way from the forest to the castle. Once in the entrance hall, they stopped once more to hug each other goodbye for the holidays. Hermione smiled as she realized they had managed to do so in complete silence while using their minds to say their farewells. This gift was going to be very useful.

'_Hermione!' _Hermione jerked awake with a start when she heard her name, looking around her room with blurry eyes. Lavender and Parvati had already packed their trunks and left the room. Hermione blinked a few times, trying to wake up. _What time is it? _She wondered, looking out the window to see snow falling from an overcast sky.

'_It's eleven O clock. The boys and I are leaving now.'_

'_Ginny?'_

'_Yes, it's me. I have been trying to get your attention. We are leaving right now for the Burrow.' _Another 'voice' popped into Hermione's head after Ginny said this, _'You can't be leaving right now. The carriages haven't left yet for Hogsmeade Station.' _Hermione identified that as Pansy.

'_I guess we are still all hearing each other when we communicate this way,' _she thought wryly. Pansy chuckled a bit in her mind and she thought she felt amusement from some of the other girls.

'_We are leaving by Floo Network through Professor McGonagall's office. It was decided that it would be safer for 'the chosen one.''_ Ginny thought, emphasizing Harry's latest title. _'The boys still think you are going home and are probably already in the entrance hall getting ready to leave on the carriages. I decided it would be easiest if they didn't know you changed your plans.'_

'_That makes sense; I don't need them asking questions about this. Thanks Gin.' _Hermione imagined herself smiling thankfully at Ginny.

'_Hey, I caught that smile. Wicked. You need to teach me… Oh, we are leaving now. BYE GIRLS!'_

There was a cacophony of 'bye Gin!' in Hermione's head as Ginny stepped through the fireplace and left.

Dressed and wide awake, Hermione grabbed a book from her trunk and headed towards The Great Hall. She had slept through breakfast and now that she was awake, was ready to eat lunch. Hermione sighed as she looked around the almost empty great hall. Everything at Hogwarts seemed so quiet now that the carriages had left, taking most of the students with them.

She sat by herself at the end of the Gryffindor table, noticing that Tracey was also seating herself at the Slytherin table. She smiled, hearing Tracey's voice in her head as she filled her plate.

'_Hi.' _

'_Hey. All right?'_

'_yeah, good. So, what are you pretending to read?' _Hermione turned over her book to look at the cover; she had just grabbed whatever was available.

'_Apparently, I am reading my advanced Potions book.'_

'_Speaking of that… don't look, but Snape is staring at you.'_ Hermione felt herself stiffen as she resisted the urge to look up at the head table. She casually reached for the pumpkin juice and glanced up towards the head table, just in time to see the Defense professor glance down at his plate.

'_He's been pretty suspicious of me lately, since he has noticed that I've become friends with Pansy. He keeps warning me about her.'_

'_I wonder if he will see her at one of the Yule parties over the holidays.'_

'_Yule parties?'_

'_Yeah, it's pretty common among the pureblood families. The Malfoy's usually host one of the largest parties at Christmas time. I've heard that Snape usually attends that one, Draco used to brag about it… of course, with Mr. Malfoy in Azkaban, they probably won't be hosting one this year.'_

'_I bet Snape would be happy to not have to attend a party this year. He doesn't exactly seem like the party type… or the Christmas type, for that matter.'_

'_Your right about that, can you actually see him drinking hot chocolate and opening his present on Christmas morning!'_

Hermione stifled a giggle as the mental image of Snape excitedly ripping open a package flitted across her mind.

'_Speaking of chocolate… what was that about this morning, when we were coming in? Snape smells like chocolate?'_

Hermione felt herself flush_. 'I don't know what it is, but every time I have been around him, I smell chocolate and sandalwood.' _She took a large bit of her sandwich to cover her embarrassment.

'_You know that most students don't spend a lot of time noticing what their professor smells like, right?'_

'_I didn't mean to… I just noticed when I ran into him at the bookstore this summer. Oh. The bookstore. I bet the Professor knows if Mr. Yosh takes mail orders!'_

'_What?'_

'_The bookstore that I ran into Professor Snape at. It was amazing and I wanted to order some books on telepathy from there, for our research. The Professor seemed to be familiar with the store, I could ask him about sending in a mail order.'_

'_You know, he is my Head of House and even I wouldn't want to waste some of my Christmas holiday talking to him about books. He will probably just deduct points from you for being to curious and give you detention or something.'_

Hermione smiled at that_. ' Well, I have to try. It would only be a quick question and we need as much research material as possible. Hey, are you done eating? Want to meet me in the library to start researching?' _

'_Should we be seen together?' _Tracy asked apprehensively. They had never decided with the other girls when they would make their friendships more apparent. It was hard to decide because it had to be enough to please Voldemort, but not enough for him to order Pansy to move forward with the spell.

'_I doubt anyone would be in the library today and besides, there aren't any other Slytherins around to report it.'_

Hermione could feel that Tracey was pleased with the idea that they could spend time together. Otherwise it may have proved to be a very lonely Christmas for them both.

'_I'm going to grab some stuff from my room and I will meet you in the library.' _Hermione said as she stood up from the table. She flashed Tracey a smile across the room and heading out towards her dormitory.

Snape took a deep sip of his hot chocolate as he looked out over the Great Hall. He felt himself relax as he took in the almost empty hall, and felt the warm chocolate slide down into his belly. It was finally quiet, most of the students were gone and with any luck he could enjoy a few weeks of peace. He frowned when he noticed the Gryffindor table. There were only two occupants; a first year and Granger. Minerva had mentioned over breakfast that Granger had come to her first thing in the morning and let her know that she would be changing her plans and staying for the holidays. _Why had Granger changed her plans?_

He idly traced his lips with his fingers as he watched the Gryffindor witch eat her lunch. She had a book open in front of her but hadn't once turned the pages and he wondered why she would bother to pretend she was reading. She blushed and then smiled as he watched her and he found himself feeling puzzled. She wasn't reading and she was sitting alone, so what was making her blush? _Damned girl._ He had spent entirely too much time thinking about her lately. He was worried. She seemed to defy him at every turn, no matter what he did to try and warn her.

He saw her flash a smile towards the Slytherin table's only occupant before leaving the  
Great Hall. Miss Davis was the only Slytherin who would be staying over the holidays. As a half blood, her family was rarely invited to the regular round of balls and Yule parties that were so much a part of pureblood culture. Severus frowned when he saw the shared smile between the two girls. Was Miss Granger friends with another Slytherin? He had never even seen Miss Parkinson and Miss Davis together, _when would Hermione have had a chance to meet Ms. Davis?_ He needed a way to watch the Gryffindor witch more closely.

There was a flash of lurid purple in Severus' peripheral vision, indicating to Severus that Dumbledore was leaving the table. He wiped his mouth on his napkin and stood to follow the older man up to his office, he needed to tell his employer about the conversation he had conducted with Draco last night.

'Headmaster, do you have a moment free?'

'Of course, Severus, of course. Come up to my office with me.' Severus fell into step next to Dumbledore as they made their way to the headmaster's office.

'Severus, I trust you are feeling a bit more relaxed now that most of our students have gone home for the holidays.'

'If only it could be _all_ the students' headmaster.' Severus murmured in a low voice, causing Dumbledore to chuckle.

'Now, Severus, I'm sure you don't really feel that way, the students this year are a delight! I, for one, am glad to have such a wonderful group of students to remember Hogwarts by.' Snape felt a lance of pain at Dumbledore's words and he sucked in a deep breath trying to compose himself. When he spoke, his voice was rusty and low.

'Headmaster, really I think if I spend the holidays researching…'

'We've already had this conversation Severus.' Dumbledore's voice had taken on a hard edge the brooked no argument. Snape sighed, feeling defeated. It made it even harder to accept in the face of his mentors evident cheerfulness and acceptance.

After turning down a lemon drop, and settling himself in a seat opposite Dumbledore, Severus began to describe the conversation he had last night with Draco. Under the guise of trying to help him, he had tried to get Draco to talk to him about his plans.

'So, young Mr. Malfoy has some talent for Occlumency.' Dumbledore said in a voice muffled by the candy he had recently popped into his mouth.

'Before he put his shields up, I was able to determine that Bellatrix has been teaching both him and Miss Parkinson over their holiday breaks. His mental shields are crude but strong.'

'Miss Parkinson too? Has there been any indication that she will be successful in her particular endeavor anytime soon?' Dumbledore asked thoughtfully. Severus was quiet for a moment before answering.

'Albus, I believe that she still has a way to go on that, but I am getting worried.'

'Tell me.'

'Well, Miss Granger has consistently ignored all of my attempts to warn her away from Miss Parkinson. They seem to becoming closer. I also have reason to believe that Miss Granger has begun to see a few of the other Slytherin girls as friends.' He said, thinking of the shared smile he witnessed between her and Miss Davis this afternoon.

Miss Granger has also been acting erratically lately; I believe it is due to Miss Parkinson's influence. I believe we will need to watch Miss Granger closely from now on.'

The headmaster was nodding his agreement.

'Too true, Severus. Miss Granger is powerful enough to make or break Voldemort's plans for Miss Parkinson… I think we will make arrangements to watch her more carefully.'

Severus noticed that Dumbledore had a small gleam in his eyes and he felt his stomach tighten. Whatever the headmaster was about to suggest would not be good.

'I think, Severus, that you have too much on your plate and will need an assistant. Surely Miss Granger is accomplished enough to brew some of the basic medicinal potions?'

Snape stiffened in reaction. 'Surely Albus, you can't mean for me to start babysitting the girl! Besides, I am no longer the potions professor. Shouldn't Slughorn be brewing the potions for Poppy?'

'As Horace is teaching this year as a personal favor to me, I hate to ask him to do something we both know he views as a waste of his skills and time.' Severus snorted at this. _In other words, Slughorn is too lazy to be bothered. _'Besides, you did say you want to watch Miss Granger more closely. Have her help you brew a couple nights each week; I am sure she would be more than willing.'

_Gods help me; it was bad enough spending his evenings with Potter last year, and now this. '_Very well, Headmaster.'

A/N: Well this chapter ended up being a bit of a transitional chapter, but I promise lots of good Hermione/Snape interaction coming up! Please Read and Review! What do you think of the girls' new gift?


	10. Chapter 10:Christmas Cards

**Chapter 10: Christmas Cards and a Headmistress**

Hermione and Tracey didn't have any success with their research until Christmas day.

The two girls had already spent most of their holiday in their classroom or in the library researching. Frustratingly, the library had yielded little to no success.

Every time Hermione felt that she had finally found some accurate information on telepathy, the book would end up referencing Occlumency or Legilimency. The girls had hit a stale-mate two days ago and agreed they couldn't find anything new for their research in the Hogwarts Library.

It was on Christmas morning when the girls received a few items that helped them to make some real progress in their research. With Seely's help, the girls spent Christmas Eve together in their classroom. They woke up to find the usual collection of gifts at their feet.

Among her other gifts, Hermione received from her mom, as promised, a number of muggle books written about the theory of telepathy. Among her gifts,Tracey, received a Christmas card.

As was common among pureblood families, Daphne Greengrass's mother was distant cousins with Tracey's mother, so Daphne could send her _cousin_ a Christmas card without raising suspicion. It was through the card, that Hermione and Tracey were able to learn about what their friends were experiencing during their holiday.

They could all communicate with each other.

Daphne told them that on leaving Hogwarts, they had only lost contact with two people; Hermione and Tracey. Every other girl could hear each other as clearly as if they were in the same room. For the holidays, the members of their little club had scattered across the United Kingdom, but that hadn't limited their gift one bit.

Hermione's mouth dropped open when Tracey read Daphne's card out loud.

'_There is no limit to this gift. The only limit is…Hogwarts!'_

'_Hermione! The wards! Didn't you tell us that Hogwarts has all kinds of special wards on it to keep it safe? Something in the wards must restrict our gift!'_

Both girls, after both realizing they had stopped speaking out loud, smiled at each other. Hermione had assumed their gift was limited to the girls being within a specific proximity of each other. Upon learning this new information from the card, her mind went into overdrive thinking of the possibilities. Even after school was out this summer, they would be able to remain in close contact with each other.

Hermione didn't know when they would complete the spell of Morgaine's blessing. She didn't know how long it would be until the final confrontation between Voldemort and Harry, but she knew that she and her new friends would be there. This gift would help them get there.

'Ok, so it works in and out of Hogwarts, but the wards prevent it from getting through.' She said, looking at Tracey.

'Whatever wards are doing this, they must work like a really strong Occlumency wall. Remember when you put your walls up that first morning? It was muffled for the rest of us; we could just barely hear you. The Hogwarts wards are probably just a stronger version of that.' Tracey said, as she absently twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

Hermione's mind was going through everything she had learned about Occlumency.

'_The wards…Snape told Harry that the wards would keep Legilimency out. But it didn't work with Harry because of the scar.'_

Tracey looked at her, confused.

'_Snape…?' _

Hermione continued on in her thought process before Tracey could ask her about Snape and what he said to Harry

'_Snape would know more about the wards…so would Dumbledore or another headmaster…we need to ask someone…I don't want Dumbledore to know yet…the scar! I need to know how that connection works. _

_Scar. _

_There is something significant about…maybe in the new books my mum sent. No. not enough… I need to check…'' _

'Tracey!' Hermione was almost shouting in her excitement as her mind whirred through so many thoughts that Tracey was having a hard time keeping up with her leaps in logic. Tracey flinched as the sound of Hermione's voice _outside_ of her head surprised her.

'We need to research the wards around Hogwarts…no, we need to research everything we can about wards. That's going to be key to learning how to control this. You research wards. Meanwhile, I need to research scars.'

'Scars? Hermione, what do you mean?'

'Scars; magical scars to be exact. Like Harry's lightning scar, its significant. It's how Voldemort got through.'

'WHAT!' Tracey asked in a high pitched voice. 'What are you talking about Hermione?'

Hermione took a deep breath and made her self calm down. She quickly told Tracey about the previous year when Harry had seen the snake and when Voldemort had made Harry see Sirius.

Tracey's eyes had widened while Hermione told her tale. Voldemort had projected an image in Harry's head. It wasn't too dissimilar to what the girls were doing when the fooled Snape and Dumbledore.

But Voldemort had done it through the seemingly impenetrable wards of Hogwarts.

Tracey sat stunned and silent as Hermione began to gather up her books on telepathy. The Gryffindor witch was in full research mode. She muttered to herself as she organized her thoughts. _I need to head back to the library and…_

'Misses must hurry!'

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a voice, high pitched and panicky.

Seely had popped into the room and was holding both of her ears as she shifted her weight nervously.

'Seely? Whats the matter?' Tracey asked, leaning forward in concern for the little elf.

'Misses must hurry, they is being late!'

'Late for what, Seely?'

They is eating feasts in the Great Hall! The profesors are wondering where misses be! They has sent Dobby to your dormitories!'

Hermione slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead. It was Christmas day, of course Dumbledore would expect them to be in the Great Hall for Christmas dinner.

'Bullocks! We forgot!'

'We need to hurry.' Tracey said as she slipped on her shoes. 'I'll go first and you follow.'

Hermione nodded as she held out one of her new books.

'I'll say I got caught up in reading my new Christmas present.'

Severus drummed his fingers on the table impatiently for a few minutes before turning to the older man sitting at his right.

'Headmaster, perhaps we could send someone to go find Miss Granger and Miss Davis.'

The entire staff and the few students who had stayed for the holidays sat around the large round table waiting to begin their Christmas dinner.

'Oh Severus, please don't worry. I have asked Dobby to locate our missing students.' Dumbledore said cheerfully as he smiled at the other occupants at the table.

'It won't be too much longer, I am sure the girls are on their way…Ah, see its Miss Davis. Good day, my dear. Happy Christmas.'

Miss Davis was breathing heavily, indicating that she had run to the Great Hall.

'I'm so sorry, headmaster! I lost track of the time and didn't realize how late it had become!'

'Oh no, don't worry child. Severus is just eager to begin the festivities!'

Snape scowled at the headmaster.

'I simply do not feel like we should allow our students to display such bad manners as to make the rest of us wait. Miss Davis, were you not with Miss Granger?'

Hermione walked in just as he finished saying this and smiled sheepishly at the group.

'I'm terribly sorry I am late. I was given a new book for Christmas and I started reading and well…I got caught up.' She held up the book as she spoke. She had caught Snape's comment about manners when she had walked in so she sheepishly smiled in his direction. His scowl became more pronounced as he looked back and forth between Hermione and Tracey.

'_Professor Snape looks ready to spit!'_

'_He probably is, and lucky you; look where you get to sit.'_

Hermione looked at the table, and she understood why Tracey was sending her a mental smirk. The only available chair was right next to Professor Snape. Apparently none of the other students had been brave enough to sit so close to him. Hermione ignored Snape's scowl and took her seat.

'Excellent! Now everyone. Happy Christmas, and, tuck in!' Dumbledore said cheerfully as he picked up his fork. A feast had just appeared on the table consisting of every good thing Hermione could possibly think of for Christmas dinner.

'_I'm glad Seely came and told us, I didn't realize how hungry I was!'_ Hermione thought, glancing at Tracey as she took a large bite.

'_I think you are a bad influence on me. I can't believe I almost forgot about Christmas dinner because I was busy researching with the know-it-all!'_

Hermione coughed a couple times, trying to cover up her urge to giggle at Tracey's comment.

'_Don't make me laugh! Snape will wonder if I start laughing out of nowhere!'_

Hermione looked up in time to catch a smug smile flash on Tracey face.

In order to avoid looking at Tracey and erupting into laughter, Hermione turned to her dinner companion.

'Er. Happy Christmas, Professor. Have you had a nice day?'

'No different than any other day, Miss Granger. The only exception being that the headmaster insisted on gifting me with yet another pair of lurid wool socks. I must have an entire drawer full of his 'Christmas gifts.'

This time Hermione did let out a gasping laugh. Tracey looked up at her in conflusion but she just shook her head.

'_I'll tell you later.'_

She couldn't believe it, was Professor Snape actually joking around with her?

She turned back to smile at him once her laughter had died.

His face was once again blank as he returned to his meal.

Hermione scowled in confusion. They had almost carried on a civil conversation. What was his problem now?

_It seemed that Miss Granger had befriended yet another member of my house. _

Snape scowled as he finished off the last of his dinner. Miss Granger and Miss Davis were lying. His life depended on his being observant of all that went on around him. The two witches kept looking at each other throughout the meal. They were descreet and he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking for it. He had thought it too much of a coincidence that they had both lost track of the time this afternoon, and so he had been watching them closely.

When he told Miss Granger about the socks Dumbledore purchased for him, both girls had automatically shared a look. There was something going on there.

Considering the way Miss Granger was acting in regards to her friendship with the Parkinson girl, he wouldn't be at all surprised to find that she was and Miss Davis were now forming a bond.

Severus picked up a cup of hot bitter tea and took a sip. He tried not to grimace as he closed his eyes against the bitter taste of the tea, thinking longingly of the hot chocolate that the house elves would have ready for him in his chambers. Tilting his head down, he peeked through his hair and covertly watched the young Gryffindor witch daintily eat her pudding. He would have to talk to her soon about becoming his assistant. He wanted it all squared away before the rest of the students returned from their holiday breaks. Once she was working with him, he would have to speak with her one more time about the new friends she was making.

It was rare that a student openly defied him like this. No matter what he told her, she continued to ignore him and maintain her friendship with Miss Parkinson. It seemed now that Miss Davis was another new friendship of hers that he would have to question.

Severus frowned at this. How much did Miss Davis know? Her family members were not supporters of the Dark Lord. In fact, they had brilliantly managed to remain neutral and keep themselves under the radar of the Dark Lord.

Was she working with Pansy to complete Voldemorts' assignment, or was she just as much a pawn in this as Hermione?

Taking another sip of his tea, Severus resisted the urge to groan in frustration. It seemed he would have to keep an eye on Miss Davis in addition to Draco, Miss Parkinson and Miss Granger. How many more students was he going to be watching this year?

Snape looked around the table; most of the group had finished their dinner and were engaged in idle conversation. He sighed with relief. He could now leave without reproach from Dumbledore, he had been here long enough. With one more glance around the table, he quietly stood and left.

Tracey had started making a list on boxing day. Three days later and the list was still growing. She sighed as she pulled out a quill and continued her list on yet another piece of parchment. After reading a few different volumes of

_Hogwarts: a History_, Tracey had decided to start listing off each ward mentioned. It seemed that each headmaster had layered on more and more wards to the ones already in use. Hogwarts had to be the most heavily warded building in the whole United Kingdom. Tracey sighed to herself. _There are too many of them, how will we ever know which ones are blocking our gift?_

'_Don't forget, once the other girls are back, we can all do the research.' _Hermione's voice sounded in her head. Tracey looked over at the other girl to see her smiling at her.

'Don't worry Tracey, we will figure it out.'

Before Tracey could answer, she was interrupted by Seely.

'The headmaster is wanting miss to come now,' came the squeaky voice as Seely popped into the room.

'The headmaster? Who does he want, Seely?' Hermione asked.

'He is wanting you miss. He asks Dobby to find you and bring you to his office.'

'Oh. Er, Seely, do you know what he wants? Did he look mad or anything?'

'Seely not see him, miss. Seely hears Dobby say it. Dobby is to tell miss that the headmaster eats nestle bars.'

'Oh, that must be his password.' Hermione looked over at Tracey. 'I guess I had better go see Professor Dumbledore.'

It was only after turning down a lemon drop, that Hermione noticed Professor Snape sitting in the darkened corner of Dumbledore's office.

'Oh, er… hello professor.' She said, feeling nervous. Was this about her friendship with Pansy?

'Miss Granger' was all he said by way of a greeting.

_Bloody Hell, I should have known Snape wouldn't let this rest, and now he's bringing the Headmaster in on it._

_Hermione?_ Tracey's voice sounded nervous in her head.

_What's going on?_ _Snape is there with you?_

_Yes, I don't know what it is about yet, try to concentrating on listening with me. Maybe you can hear everything I hear._

'Ah Miss Granger. I trust you are enjoying your holidays so far?' Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling as he sat behind his desk and regarded the witch.

'Er, yes sir.'

'Very good, very good. Miss Granger, Severus and I asked you here because we have a proposition for you.' Hermione thought she heard a faint snort coming from Snape's corner, but, when she looked over to him, his face was blank.

'Now, as you probably know, Severus is responsible for creating all of the medicinal potions for Madame Pomfrey.'

'But I thought that…' Hermione didn't finish her sentence as she thought about what Dumbledore said.

'Yes, Miss Granger?'

'Sir, I thought that Professor Slughorn would be responsible for that. He is the Potions Professor.'

Now she was sure she heard a snort from Snape.

'Well, yes, usually this is part of the Potions Professors duties, but Professor Slughorn is rather busy and Severus has been kind enough to offer his services.' Dumbledore sent a twinkling smile towards Professor Snape before turning his gaze back on Hermione.

Hermione stayed quiet. No doubt Professor Slughorn was too busy with his 'Slug Club' to be bothered with potions making. She felt like imitating Professor Snape with a snort of her own.

'Yes, Severus is very generous, but he is rather busy, with his…other line of work.' Dumbledore's voice had lowered an octave and his eyes narrowed a bit as his conversation became serious. 'We had hoped that you might be a kind of assistant to him this next semester. You could help him complete some of the simpler potions.'

'Oh. Well… of course I would be willing to help, head master.'

_Damn! I don't have time for this!_

'But, are you sure I am the right person for the job? I mean, I've never even received a perfect score on any of my potions homework. I believe that Draco Malfoy is quite good at potions.'

Professor Snape scowled in her direction when she said this. His eyes bore into her as he spoke in a sharp voice. 'Miss Granger, I find it hard to believe that you of all people would turn down a chance to prove just what a know-it-all you are. One would think you would be grateful for a chance to improve your skills in potions.'

'Yes sir, I am grateful that you thought of me.'

Hermione tried to look properly grateful, she would normally jump at the chance to help with potions.

'Excellent! I knew you would be willing to help us out! Now. What say you, Severus? Two or three times a week?'

'_Hermione! Hermione!'_

'_Tracey? What is it?'_

'_Hermione, I've been looking through your new Muggle Books and I found this one called _Telepathic Theory and its Physical Host_.'_

'_Okay, what about it? What is so urgent?' _

Snape was still speaking and Hermione tried to keep an attentive look on her face.

'_It's written by an M. Derwent. His last name is the same as a former headmistress of Hogwarts!'_

Hermione's eyes flew up to the row of portraits on Dumbledore's wall. There she was; Dilys Derwent, celebrated former headmistress of Hogwarts. The witch had silver ringlets, one of which she idly twirled in her finger as she listened to Professor Snape speak.

'Is that clear, Miss Granger?'

_Merlin! I didn't hear a word of what he said!_

'Er. Yes sir, quite clear.'

'If that is all, Headmaster, I need to be going. Miss Granger, I will see you in a week.' After shooting one more look in her direction, Professor Snape stood and stalked out of the room.

'Miss Granger, before you go. I have something for Harry. Could you see that he gets it once he has returned from The Burrow?'

'Yes, of course sir.'

'A moment then, Miss Granger.' The head master stood and went through a door behind his desk that must have led to his personal quarters. Hermione quickly stood and moved to the portrait wall.

'Headmistress, I need to speak with you privately. Is there another portrait in the school that I could meet you at?'

'What? My dear, this is quite unorthodox!' The silver haired witch exclaimed.

'Its quite important Headmistress, and I need to speak with you in private,' Hermione said. She glanced at the other portraits whose subjects were all looking at her with interest.

'Er… it's a woman thing.' She said in explanation to the other portraits before looking back at the headmistress with an appealing look on her face.

'Very well dear, the old infirmary was located in the west wing of the fourth floor. My portrait still hangs there.'

Hermione smiled in relief as she quickly returned to her seat. 'Oh, thank you, I will go there tonight.'

A moment later, Dumbledore returned to the office with a rolled up scroll in his hands.

'Please deliver this to Harry when he has returned, my dear. I am sure you know all about our little lessons.'

'Yes sir. Thank you.' she said as she stood to leave.

After leaving Dumbledore's office, Hermione went straight to their classroom to find Tracey waiting for her.

'Did you hear it all?'

Tracey nodded, 'Yes I did. It was like you repeated everything in your head as you processed the information and I was able to hear everything you did.'

Hermione smiled, 'So, we know a little bit more about the capabilities of our gift; we can eavesdrop on each other. Did you happen to hear what Professor Snape said when you were telling me about Headmistress Derwent?'

'No, I could only hear what you processed. You weren't listening to him so I didn't hear it.'

'Oh, well I suspect the headmistress heard it. I think he was telling me when we were to meet.'

'I can't believe you will be helping him with potions. I don't think he has ever had an assistant or an apprentice or anything like that.'

'I think he suspects something and wants to keep an eye on me.'

'Because of Pansy?'

'Yes, remember when I told you how he had warned me away from Pansy?'

Tracey nodded, 'So, you think he wants to make sure you won't be sucked into her scheming and used by Voldemort?'

'Something like that, although, he didn't look too happy about the idea. Maybe Professor Dumbledore wants Snape to watch me.'

'Do you think Snape tells the headmaster everything?'

'I think so. I wonder if we should tell Snape that Pansy is on the side of the light now…what do you think?'

'I think we need to talk to everyone else and then decide. Maybe for now you can just test the waters a bit while you are helping him.'

Hermione nodded, 'Well, I can't do anything until the other girls return. For now, we should continue our research.'

Tracey held out a book to Hermione.

'This is the book written by M. Derwent, you will probably want to look it over before we meet with the headmistress' portrait tonight.'

They hadn't been specific about what time that night they would be meeting the portrait, so the girls waited until after dinner before sneaking up to the fourth floor. When they arrived, Dilys Derwent was reading a book in the dusty portrait that used to hang in the infirmary. For some unknown reason, when they had moved the infirmary to a new location in the castle, they hadn't moved the portrait as well.

As the two witches approached the portrait, Dilys looked up and smiled.

'Hello, hello girls. I had forgotten that this portrait was painted to include some of my favorite books! I haven't read this one in years.' She held up a copy of Jane Austen's _Emma_ to show the girls.

'Now, my dear, what was it you needed to speak to me about? You made the other portraits in the Headmasters office very curious.'

Hermione held up her own book for the portrait to see.

'Headmistress, we were wondering if this book was written by a relative of yours. Its really important to a… personal project we are working on.'

The former headmistress began to laugh.

'Oh my! I had forgotten all about that! It was written by my husband, Maximillian Derwent, he made it a hobby of his to write for the muggles…oh and please, feel free to call my Dilys.'

Hermione beamed up at the portrait. 'Dilys, this is my friend Tracey Davis. She and I are working together on researching telepathy.'

'Hello my dear, I see that you are from the Slytherin house. It is nice to see a Gryffindor and a Slytherin getting along. It happens so rarely. Why, I remember when I was headmistress; those two houses certainly caused a lot of trouble!'

Hermione and Tracey both smiled at this.

'The two houses are still great rivals, we are a kind of special case' Tracey said.

'Yes, well it is very nice to see. I was a hufflepuff myself and hated to see such animosity between both houses. My, well I could prattle on all night if you let me. What is it you wanted to ask me about my husband's book.'

'Well, I am interested in what I read in chapter eight, about physically manipulating telepathy. Did your husband have any experience with telepathic powers? What is he basing his theory on? I don't really understand what he means when he says you can physically manipulate your powers. Is it like using a wand to focus your energy?'

Tracey started to laugh softly as Hermione asked her questions in rapid succession.

'It's no wonder Professor Snape calls you a know-it-all, you can't stop asking questions, can you?'

Dilys laughed at this. 'Oh, you're the know it all! I overheard Severus talking to Albus about the 'know it all Gryffindor.' We wondered who it was he was speaking of. Now I have a face to put with the title.'

Before Hermione could respond Dilys held up her hand to stop her.

'Never mind about that, Let me see if I can answer your questions.' The portrait absently twirled a strand of silver hair around her finger as she thought.

'My husband did experience some telepathy. His was a result of a potion gone awry. He was working in his lab with his apprentice and they were both doused with the potion when the cauldron exploded. They were never able to duplicate the results of that potion, but from then on, they had a telepathic connection.'

'Were they able to control their connection?' Hermione asked eagerly. 'What was the connection like, did they hear each other's thoughts?'

'When it first became apparent that they had this connection, my husband did complain about their inability to control it. It seemed that they had no control over when they would hear each other's thoughts. They spent a few months testing their powers. They would try different ways of communicating with each other, they would go far distances from each other and see if the connection was still strong, and they tried different ways of blocking each other from their minds.' Dilys chuckled softly. 'It was quite an ordeal for a while there, and my husband became obsessed with discovering as much as he could about his power.'

'So, they did discover a way to control it, didn't they?' Tracey asked.

'Oh yes, they did. You asked about physically manipulating the powers of telepathy? Well, that is essentially what they did. They worked out a method where when one wanted to contact the other, he would press his fingers to his right temple. When they wanted to block each other, they would press their fingers to their left temple.'

Hermione felt a stab of disappointment. That was not going to work for them. She was certain it wouldn't be anything that easy.

'Now, understand girls, I don't think it was their temples that gave them the control. I think it simply meant that with a physical action, they were able to focus enough to retain control over it. It is similar to using your wand to perform a charm. Any charm can be performed without a wand if you have enough concentration and focus.'

The room was silent as Hermione and Tracey thought over what Dilys had told them. Hermione's voice sounded overly loud when she did finally break the silence.

'So, they discussed it and agreed to use the action of pressing their temples as a way to control it?'

'Yes, they wanted something that was easy to do but unusual enough to help them focus their power.'

'Dilys, I think you answered all of our questions, can we meet with you again sometime if we have more?'

'Certainly. It was so nice talking with you both, I usually only get to converse with Dumbledore and the other headmasters. They can be such a tiresome lot after so many years. If you need me, just drop by Dumbledore's office and give me a significant look, I will then meet you back here.'

'Wonderful! Thank you so much, I can't tell you how much this has helped us with our research.'

Hermione and Tracey waved goodbye once more before heading back to their classroom.

'_Now we have a good starting point for our research. I can't wait to dive in!'_

'_Somehow I am not at all surprised that you are genuinely feeling excitement as you think about research. I think it will be good when the other girls get back. You will then have a whole new crop of people who will be forced to submit to your color coded research schedules!'_


	11. Chapter 11: Wine and Potions

**Chapter 11: Elf –made wine and Medicinal potions**

_AN: sorry about the wait on this. I had to work through the trauma of the release of DH. _

_BEGINNING OF CHAPTER_

Hermione took a slow sip of some of the finest elf-made wine that the Parkinson family could offer, and she smiled as she felt the warm, sweet liquid slide down her throat. Pansy had managed to nic some wine from her father's stores before returning to Hogwarts, and the girls, all together after their long holiday, decided to celebrate the fact.

The room rang out with various toasts.

'To our new gift!'

'To Occlumency!'

'To friendship!'

'Here here!'

Hermione gigged along with the other girls. She hadn't noticed the lack during the holidays, but she felt safer when they were all together. She had walked into their classroom this evening and felt an overwhelming sense of relief to see everyone together again.

After each girl had finished her glass of wine, Ginny was the one who called them into order.

'Okay, let's get down to it. We all heard each other during the holidays, but I have no idea what happened with Hermione and Tracey.'

'And, we have no idea what happened to you girls over the holidays. If I had known we could have all communicated over the holidays, I would have chosen to go home.'

'Then I would have been spared having such a task master dictate our research!' Tracey piped in. 'She's an obsessed Know-it-all! I agree with Snape!'

The other girls laughed at Tracey's exasperation.

'We are used to that up in the Gryffindor tower. Everyone runs when they see Hermione making out her famous study schedules,' Ginny said. 'Let's start with Pansy, she had the most exciting holiday, then we can hear what Hermione and Tracey did.'

Pansy smiled as all eyes turned towards her.

'Well, as you know,' She turned to address Hermione and Tracey directly, 'we could all communicate with each other during the holiday. Well, we figured out how to eavesdrop on each other. That way, rather than repeating what happened, we could just listen in.'

Tracey smiled at this, 'We did that too! I listened in when Hermione went up to Dumbledore's office. It was like I was there with her.' Pansy nodded.

'Well, all the girls listened in during my family's Yule Ball. I had been really nervous for it. Draco and his mom and Aunt Bellatrix would all be there. I'm pretty sure that all the Death Eaters were invited. Even Professor Snape showed up for a short time. I was pretty sure Bellatrix would check on me and use Legilimency on me.

_Pansy stood next to her parents near the entrance hall of their manor, greeting each of their guests in turn. She wore an appropriate set of dark green formal robes in honor of the occasion. It was near the end of the line that the Malfoy's came, followed closely by Professor Snape. Narcissa came first, followed by Draco who looked flushed and sulky. Pansy felt a slice of pain as Draco shook her hand in a perfunctory manner before moving away. Usually, Draco told her she looked beautiful and whispered something to her about meeting later in her bedroom. This whole year he had grown more and more distant from her. She looked at him sadly as he walked away. She was pretty sure she knew where his loyalties lay, there wasn't anything she could do. _

_She was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of someone clearing their throat politely. She turned to see Professor Snape standing in front of her._

'_Professor! It's good to see. Did you have a Happy Christmas?'_

'_Miss Parkinson. Quite. I hope your holidays are going well.'_

'_Yes, thank you Professor.'_

'_Miss Parkinson, if you would be so kind, Miss Lestrange and I would like to speak with you later when you get a free moment.'_

_He had gestured to his side when he said that and Pansy noticed that Bellatirx Lestrange was following him down the receiving line._

_Pansy felt a small fissure of panic before greeting Bellatrix as politely as she could._

'_Miss Lestrange, good to see you. Of course I will meet with you both later on this evening.' _

_Pansy watched as her Professor stiffly greeted Draco's Aunt before moving into the ballroom. _

'Don't worry! We already fooled Snape and we can fool Dumbledore! Bellatrix Lestrange is not a match for Dumbledore!_' It was Ginny who forcefully sent that thought into Pansy's head, and she started to feel calmer as the remembered that her friends were all listening in, ready to support her._

_It was after dinner that Bellatrix Lestrange approached Pansy and asked her to step into her father's library for a moment. Snape was already waiting there when the two women arrived. _

_Bellatrix sneered in Snape's direction. _

'_Pansy, Snape and I wanted to find out how you were doing with your… project.'_

_Sitting opposite both adults, Pansy talked about becoming friends with the Granger Mudblood. She went on to say that through Granger, she had managed to start a friendship with Miss Weasley and Susan Bones. Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass from Slytherin had also gained the Gryffindor witch's trust. _

_While Pansy talked she felt Bellatrix enter her mind. After all the time the girls had spent practicing, Bellatrix Legilimency skills seemed almost clumsy. Bellatrix invasion into her mind was obvious and a little harsh, Pansy was sure she would have a headache after this. She concentrated on projecting some of her real memories of times spent with Hermione. She made sure each memory was trivial in nature, like when Hermione had talked about asking that Quidditch player to the Christmas party. She also made sure to project her memories of when Snape had tried to 'help her.' All the girls had agreed that they wanted to help Snape as much as possible. _

_Apparently satisfied, Bellatrix withdrew from her mind and looked over to Snape. _

'_She's telling the truth.' She said bluntly before looking back at Pansy. 'Very good, Pansy. Keep up the good work, our Lord will be proud of your service to him.'_

_With that, Bellatrix sneered at Snape one more time before leaving the library._

_Pansy put her head in her hands, using her Occlumency combined with Bellatrix's invasion of her mind had left her with a dull ache under her temples._

_Snape held a small vial under her nose. 'It's a basic headache potion. Miss Lestrange's skills at Legilimency leave a lot to be desired.'_

_Pansy looked up at her professor. 'Thank You, Professor.' _

'_Before you take that, Miss Parkinson, tell me, does it help to be partners with Miss Granger in class? Is it helping you with your project?'_

_Before Pansy could reply he was in her mind. This time, the intrusion was more gentle and subtle. She could tell that her Professor was an expert at this. She quickly pushed the memory of her first class sitting next to Hermione to the front of her mind. She then let him shuffle through the same memories that Bellatrix had seen._

_He pulled out of her mind abruptly._

'_You have some experience with Occlumency, don't you Miss Parkinson?'_

_Pansy felt her throat go dry. Had he been able to tell she was projecting certain memories? _

'_Yes sir. Miss Lestrange taught both Draco and me this summer.'_

'_Ah yes, I have experienced first hand Draco's skill with Occlumency.' Snape's scowl deepened. _

_He stood up, looking down at her. 'Take that headache potion. It should start to work immediately.' He turned on his heel and strode out of the library and Pansy breathed a sigh of relief. _

Pansy stopped talking and looked at Hermione.

'He didn't say anything else to me and he left the ball soon after that. I still don't know if he could tell I was projecting or not.'

'Well, he is on our side. He may have been able to tell and decided not to say anything.'

'Maybe. I don't know. He has never trusted me, I mean; he keeps warning you about being friends with me.'

Hermione nodded and bit her lip. 'I think that's why he asked me to work with him this semester.'

Pansy's eyebrows rose in surprise. 'He asked you to work with him? Doing what?'

Hermione quickly told the girls about her meeting in Dumbledore's office, this quickly led to the story of their meeting with the headmistress.

'Wow! You and Tracey had all the fun!' Ginny said. 'I spent the whole time listening to Harry complain about how evil Draco is.'

'Well, he isn't wrong is he?' Pansy asked in a sad voice. Hermione patted Pansy on the shoulder; there wasn't anything she could say. The girls had already talked about Draco. He was definitely up to something and he was working for Voldemort.

As the mood had become quite serious, Hermione decided it was as good at time as any to bring up something else that had crossed her mind.

'I think, since I will be working with Professor Snape, maybe we should consider telling him about what we have been doing.'

The room had gone silent and Hermione could feel all the girls' eyes on her.

'Tell Professor Snape?' It was Millicent who spoke first. 'I don't know, can we trust him with our secrets?'

There was a general murmur of agreement among the other girls.

Hermione's eyes met Pansy's for a moment before she spoke.

'He is not going to rest until we tell him something. I don't know if I can handle meeting with him once or twice a week. You know what he will want to talk about. He will forever be harping on about my relationship with Pansy.'

'But Hermione, you are stronger than that; you even fooled him with Occlumency. You could handle it.' Ginny said.

'I know I could. I just don't know if it's necessary. It may help him to know we are all on his side. He has to be feeling the stress of all that has been going on. I told you all about what Harry overheard during the party, so we know he is trying to keep an eye on Draco, wouldn't it be easier if he didn't feel like he also had to keep an eye on Pansy and myself?'

'Hermione may be right.' Pansy spoke quietly. I, for one, would like to know if he could tell that I was projecting. It would help to have his assistance in preparing us too. You know I will have to go before the Dark Lord eventually.'

The room broke out into a cacophony of voices. Some of the girls agreed with Hermione and Pansy while some were definitely against the idea of bringing Snape into the picture.

It was Luna who served as the voice of reason.

'We don't have to decide now.' She called out in a singsong voice. The rest of the girls quieted down and Luna spoke again.

'Hermione will be working with the professor all semester. Let's wait a while and then decide. Let's see how Snape treats Hermione.'

The girls could agree upon this. They would wait, and Hermione would report to them about each of her sessions with the professor.

PAGEBREAK

It was after their DADA class on Tuesday, that Professor Snape reminded Hermione of their first meeting. The class stood in pairs, reviewing what they had learned in the previous semester when he walked up behind her. Hermione was just gearing up to throw a silent giggling hex towards Pansy when Pansy's voice rang in her head.

'_Snape is standing right behind you!'_

Before Hermione could react to what Pansy had told her, she heard a silky voice speak low into her ear.

'Miss Granger, I expect you to meet me in my office no later than seven tonight for our first session.'

She turned her head to find his face very close to hers, his expression unfathomable as he looked into her eyes.

'Yes sir, I will be here.'

The moment seemed to stretch out before it was broken by Tracey's voice in her head.

'_He still smells like chocolate then Hermione?'_

The girls had still not managed to master their gift and everyone had heard Pansy's thought about Snape being right behind Hermione. Hermione had unknowingly been projecting her thoughts while she spoke with Snape.

Hermione unconsciously inhaled the now familiar smell of sandalwood and chocolate as she hastily took a step back, trying to put some distance between the professor and herself.

'Miss Granger, do you intend to stand there all day? Get back to work.' Snape said in a curt voice before moving on to terrorize another pair of students.'

The rest of the class was filled with eleven girl's voices ringing in Hermione's head. She sighed as she listened to Tracey 'telling' Jarilyn and Anjali about how Hermione smelled chocolate and sandalwood every time she was around Snape.

'_We really need to learn how to control this gift! I don't know how much longer I can take this!'_

Pansy just smirked at her and silently cast a jelly legs jinx in her direction.

PAGEBREAK

At precisely seven o clock, a knock sounded on the door of Snape's office. He smirked at the sound. Miss Granger was predictably right on time.

'Enter.'

'Good evening, professor.' She said in a quiet voice as she closed the door behind her and entered his office.

'Take a seat, Miss Granger.' He said, gesturing toward the chair in front of his desk.

As she sat, he stood from his seat behind the desk and moved to stand in front of her. She was forced to tilt her head back to look at him.

'Do you know why the headmaster wanted us to meet each week Miss Granger?'

'To help you prepare the medicinal potions for Madame Pomfrey.' She said in an eager voice, not unlike the one she used to answer his questions in class.

'No Miss Granger. That is not the only reason.' He kept his voice stern as he stared down at her.

'The headmaster is concerned, as I am, about the people you have been associating with lately.'

'Professor, how many times are you going to ask me the same questions?'

'Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, don't interrupt me.

Have you befriended Miss Davis, as well as Miss Parkinson?'

She kept her face blank, only blinking once at his question about Miss Davis.

'Miss Davis? The girl who stayed here during the Christmas holiday?'

'Miss Granger, do not play the fool. You know very well who Miss Davis is. Have you befriended her as you have Miss Parkinson?'

'Sir, I am allowed to be friends with whomever I want. I would think that as a professor you would encourage inter house friendships between your students.'

_Merlin save me from the arrogance of Gryffindors! _Snape thought to himself as he regarded the girl sitting before him.

His voice was low and he leaned towards her when he spoke.

'We have already discussed this. Miss Parkinson and possibly, Miss Davis, are dangerous to associate with at this time. They are working for the Dark Lord and cannot be trusted. For once, use that apparently sharp mind of yours and don't act as a Gryffindor would. Do not trust Miss Parkinson or any of her friends.'

He grasped her upper arm abruptly pulling her to stand in front of him, making her gasp in surprise.

'We will speak of this again Miss Granger, and I expect you to give me details about your association with Miss Parkinson. I will need to know if she has already started using you for the Dark Lord's purposes. Now come.'

With that he released her arm and turned on his heel, walking away. He opened the door leading to his private lab and turned to see her still standing there gaping at him.

'Well Miss Granger? Are you here to help me with these potions or not?'

She loudly released a breath before scrambling after him.

PAGE BREAK

Hermione snapped her mouth shut and followed Snape into his personal potions lab. It was only their first session and he had managed to surprise her into speechlessness. She was going to have to be more on guard. She anxiously chewed on her bottom lip. It was going to be a stressful semester if Snape was going to put her through the third degree every week. She hoped she could convince the girls about telling him the truth.

'Miss Granger, pay attention. I would think our class know-it-all would be eager to learn as much as she can about medicinal potions.'

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by the Professors sharp tone and she looked at him attentively.

He had set up a number of ingredients near a large cauldron and some instructions were written on the blackboard.

'Can you tell what potion you will be making with these ingredients?'

Hermione looked down at the table in front of her.

She didn't recognize all of the ingredients, but she did notice a vial of salamander blood, daisy roots, and sneezewort. The salamander blood was common in a number of medicinal potions as it was a known strengthening solution, but it was only combined with sneezewort for one specific potion.

'Is it Pepper-Up potion, sir?' She asked looking up at Snape. His face was blank, but he nodded once.

'As it is winter, Poppy will need quite a bit of it in the hospital wing. You will need to double all of the ingredients to make a double batch of the potion. I trust you can handle this?'

Hermione nodded and eagerly approached the lab table. The Pepper-Up potion was a straight forward potion, but she had not yet had a chance to try making it. She picked up a silver knife and started to chop the daisy roots into equal sections.

She felt Snape's eyes on her for a moment before he was satisfied enough to work on his own potion. He moved to the next lab table and silently started to prepare his ingredients.

It was an hour later that Hermione finally looked up from her potion. It would need to simmer for half an hour before she could decant it, so she turned the flame down and approached the professor work table. He was shredding some small, very distinctive flowers. Hermione gasped when she recognized the flowers.

'You're making Wolfsbane!' she said excitedly. Snape had been shredding the monkshood flowers.

He looked up briefly at Hermione, who was standing across the table from him.

'Indeed. Miss Granger. You recognized the Monkshood flowers?'

'Yes sir. I've never seen them before but they do look like a monk's cowl.'

'Is your potion finished?'

'It needs to simmer a bit longer before I decant it. Sir, do you think I might assist you with wolfsbane sometime? Do you only make it once a month? Are you still making it for Professor Lupin?'

She asked the questions in rapid succession as she watched him add the now shredded monkshood flowers to the cauldron.

'Miss Granger, I suggest you worry about your own potion. It is about time for you to decant it and get back to your dormitory. It is nearly curfew.'

'Yes sir, but – '

Professor Snape raised one eyebrow and looked at her pointedly, making it clear that he would not answer any of her questions.

She scowled at him before turning back to her potion.

END OF CHAPTER

AN: I know this chapter was a long time coming. Please forgive me and let me know what you think. I plan on lots more Hermione/Snape interaction in the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 12: Scar Magic

**Chapter 12: Scar Magic**

**AN: see disclaimer in previous chapters. **

_It has fallen to me to tell the tale of one of the darkest witches ever encountered in this world. Truly her evil had no bounds. _

_She was alive on this earth during the time of Merlin, the most noble of wizards. Indeed, he alone was powerful enough to stop this evil witch. I speak of the witch Morgan la Fey. Morgan la Fey, the woman who brought about the destruction of a kingdom. She seduced her own brother and trained her son to loath our good King Arthur. She used her evil magics to prevent the Kings own sweet wife to produce an heir. Everywhere that Morgan went, she caused pain, death and destruction. _

_She was trained by the Lady of the Lake herself. The gently lady Viviane had no idea what a monster it was she held under the protection of Avalon. Viviane was all gentle goodness and could not handle the betrayal of her own kin. Yes, Morgan la Fey was the natural niece of our Lady of the Lake. _

_Morgan was brought to Avalon at the age of eight, an awkward little girl with large eyes and a mass of black curls. Nobody suspected that someone so small could harbor such evil intentions. Even at that young of an age, the girl had assisted in the murder of her own father…_

**Excerpt from The Curse of the Goddess**

'Hermione, what did you do to your hand?' Harry asked, grabbing her right hand and examining her palm. They were sitting at Hermione's favorite table in the library, getting a head start on their homework. Harry had spent most of the time talking about Draco and he kept pulling out his map to look for a sign of the Slytherin boy.

Hermione looked down at the hand Harry had grabbed. Her palm was a bright red color and it looked raw and painful. She hadn't even noticed it.

'I don't know. I never noticed it.'

'You've been rubbing it all day; you didn't know you were doing that?'

'I've been… all day?'

'I noticed you were doing it during our apparition class earlier today.'

Now that she was looking at her hand, she realized that it had been aching all day. It wasn't too terribly painful, more like a dull ache that wouldn't go away.

'_Your hand is hurting you? Did you do something to it?'_

Padma's voice floated into Hermione's head.

'_Not that I can remember, but it has been aching.'_

'See, there you go again. You must have done something to it; maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey.' Harry frowned as he looked at her hand one more time. She had started to rub it again while talking to Padma.

'I'm fine, Harry. My skin is probably sensitive to one of the ingredients we were using in Potions yesterday or…'

Hermione's voice drifted off as she tried to remember what ingredients they had used in their last potions class.

'Harry, can I ask you something?'

'Sure.'

'Last year, when Voldemort was getting into your head…' Hermione paused briefly, examining Harry's face. She knew this was a touchy subject and was worried about making him think of his Godfather's death.

'It's alright, Hermione. What do you need to ask?'

'Well, last year, was your scar hurting you when that was happening?'

'Yes, it hurt all the time in fact. It was always aching. I almost got used to it; like having a constant headache.'

Hermione slowly smiled as she thought about what he had said. Her thoughts were interrupted by someone else's.

'_Hermione, is it your wand hand that's bothering you?_

Pansy's voice carried an urgent tone when she asked this. Hermione looked down. It was her wand hand. What's more, the source of irritations seemed to be centered on her X shaped scar.

'_It's my scar! That's what is bothering me… Girls, we need to meet tonight! Try as hard as you can to get to the classroom!'_

'Harry, I have to go. I just remembered I have to do… something. I will talk to you later okay.'

'Hermione, What do you need to do? I thought you were going to help me with Snape's essay.'

Hermione grabbed a rolled up piece of parchment from her satchel.

'Just this once, you can copy mine. I'm really sorry Harry. I promised Ginny I would meet up with her. I just remembered. She wanted to um… have a girl talk. I'll see you later.'

'_Great, now Harry will think I'm like Lavender and Parvati. Always going around trying to have girl talks and give everyone makeovers!'_

Ginny had managed to express a perfect amount of vitriol and exasperation in her thought, making Hermione want to giggle as she quickly exited the library.



It was later that night when all the girls were in their classroom together. They had been idly practicing Occlumency while they waited for the last girl to make it. It was Ginny who walked in last, after Quidditch practice.

Hermione stood up eagerly as soon as she saw Ginny enter the classroom.

'Finally, we are all here!'

Ginny raised her eyebrows at Hermione. 'I got here as soon as I could, sorry.'

'No. It's no big deal, Gin; I know this is last minute… I just can't wait to tell you all what we discovered.'

'We?'

'Yes, I'm pretty sure that Pansy figured it out too.' Hermione turned to look at the Slytherin girl and Pansy flashed her 'Slytherin smile,' which Hermione returned in perfect understanding.

'Pansy and I figured out how to control our gift.'

There was a general murmur of excitement among the other girls and Hermione new she had their full attention. It was getting exhausting to always be party to everyone's thoughts and feelings.

Hermione held up her wand hand, showing the girls her scar which was still red.

'The source of our gift is in the scar!' I hadn't realized it until today when Harry pointed it out, but my scar has been aching and irritated. Every time we communicate with our thoughts, I feel it in my scar. Pansy feels it too.'

Some of the other girls were looking down at their hands.

'My scar hasn't been bothering me. My hand is fine.' Millicent said, holding her hand up for all to see.

'Mine too. I haven't felt any irritation.' Padma said.

Hermione flashed her own version of a Slytherin smile.

'Yes, I have a theory about that too. Luna and Susan, what about you girls? How are your hands?'

Both girls held up their hands, revealing X- shaped scars that were red and irritated.

Hermione could barely contain her happiness, her theory was right.

'Their hands are red too! It's just us four that are feeling the pain in our scars.'

Pansy smiled as she examined Susan and Luna's hands. She continued explaining where Hermione had left off.

'Each of us represented the four corners of the spell, so we are feeling the source of our gift to a higher extent.'

'_I think, if we press down on our scars and concentrate, we can control whether or not we turn our gift on and off.' _Hermione said, switching to 'thought mode.'

'_Do only you four get the control? Or can any of us do it?' _Ginny thought.

'_Try it. Press down on your scar and concentrate on turning it off. Meanwhile, I will continue to talk with Pansy. Let me know if you hear us.'_

Hermione watched Ginny and a number of the other girls press on their scars and close their eyes in concentration.

'_This is bloody brilliant! We can finally have some control over this thing!'_

'_It was Harry that first gave me the idea. Voldemort had gotten through all of Hogwarts wards because of Harry's scar last year. The scar is the source of the connection between Harry and Voldemort.'_

'_It's weird that none of us noticed that our hands were aching that way. I guess we were so involved in our communications, we didn't notice what we were feeling physically.'_

Ginny's thoughts piped back into their conversation.

'_It worked!' I was able to turn it off! When I pressed my scar again, I turned it back on again!'_

More girls' voices joined Ginny's as they ended their experiment. They finally had some control over their gift The room erupted with laughter both inside and outside of their heads as the girls practiced turning their gift on and off over and over again.

In celebration of their latest breakthrough, Pansy had Seely provide them with some butter beer. It was while they sat, idly talking and drinking from their bottles that Hermione brought up a potentially touchy subject.

'Since we are all here, I think we need to talk some more about Snape.'

They had all agreed to turn their gift off for a short while, since they had grown weary of constantly being in each others heads over the last few weeks. Consequently, Hermione had no idea what the other girls were thinking after she said this. Most of the girls did not look happy at her suggestion.

'I'm sorry Hermione, but I am not ready to trust him! I know you said he was a spy and is on our side and the headmaster trusts him but…well, you know how he treats us Gryffindors.' Jarilyn said.

'It's all part of an act!' Ginny said. 'You know he can't be nice to us. There are too many ways for it to get back to Voldemort!'

'I don't trust him either.' Millicent said. 'It's not just about how he treats us in class. I don't want anyone else to know about what we are up to.

'Millie's right. It's working out so well the way it is. Why change that?' Padma said.

Pansy had to speak loud as the rest of the girls were stating their opinions on the subject, and the room had grown quite noisy.

'I think I have a solution. Be quiet for a minute.' She stood up and waited until she had their attention.

'Look, we have all been in Hermione's head these past few weeks. We know that Snape is only asking Hermione about me. He has no idea what we are up to and how many of us there are. I think Hermione should tell him about me, but nobody else.'

She looked at her Gyffindor counterpart.

'Hermione, would that work?'

'Yes, I think that would be alright. I could tell him that we are friends and that I know all about Voldemort's plans. I will tell him that you and I have decided to work together and we will not be helping his Lord with his plans. That way, I won't have to deal with his suspicions anymore and it will help him to relax.'

'That should work, and I could even come in and talk to him too. That way he can ask both of us any questions he may have… Would you girls agree to that? He wouldn't have to know about you, just me and Hermione.'

'I would be okay with that.' Millicent said with a relieved smile.

'Will you tell him about our gift?' Luna asked in her singsong voice. 'Because I don't think the professor is ready to hear about that, yet.'

Hermione nodded at Luna. 'I think your right, we should hold off on that. It would lead to too many questions we wouldn't be able to answer.'

Pansy smiled. 'Do we have everyone else's agreement? It has to be unanimous.'

Hermione added the chopped toadstool stems and stirred the potion once counter-clockwise before turning the flame down. She had just finished her fourth batch of re-figuration draught for the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had needed an extra dose due to an accident in the seventh year transfiguration class.

'I'm all done with the last batch, sir.'

Snape looked up from his cauldron through the thick steam that floated around the base. He was making the Wolfsbane potion again. She frowned as she watched him work, she had already met with him for three weeks and this was his second batch.

'Very well Miss Granger, it seems you are finished for the evening.'

Hermione chewed on her lip for a minute, watching as he added another ingredient to his steaming cauldron.

For the first time since they started working on potions together, he had not brought up her relationship with Pansy. She would need to find a subtle way to talk to him about it. Pansy promised she would be waiting for Hermione's signal before coming to Snape's office this evening.

He spoke without looking up from his work, 'You may go now Miss Granger. As I said, you are done for the evening.'

'Sir, why are you making Wolfsbane potion again? You just made some not three weeks ago. A werewolf only needs one dose a month.'

Professor Snape regarded Hermione quietly for a moment.

'If you will wait for me in my office, I will address your questions. I will cast a stasis spell on this batch.'

Hermione beamed at him before hurrying towards the door that led to his office.

She had been curious about his work for a while now. Maybe if she told him a bit about Pansy, he would tell her about the Wolfsbane potion.

Once she had seated herself across from his desk, she pressed on the scar on her palm.

'_Pans, hold up a little longer. I just finished with my potions and he is going to talk to me in his office. I am waiting for him now.'_

'_Did he ask about me at all?'_

'_Not yet, but I think he will soon. Stay connected and listen in on our conversation. That way you can help make sure I don't reveal too much.'_

'_Well said, it's good that you are finally learning that a Gryffindor stands no chance against a Slytherin. The other girls will want to hear as well, I am going to bring them in.'_

'_Is Snape asking Hermione about Pansy?' _Hermione could hear Tracey's voice in her head.

'_Not yet, and make sure only Pansy is projecting her thoughts to me. I need to be able to concentrate and I can't when it's all of you thinking at me at the same time!'_

'_Alright, alright, we are all pressing our palms now. You won't have to hear anyone except for Pansy!' _Ginny said in an amused tone.

Hermione could hear Daphne laugh in her head._ 'Hermione just doesn't want us to tease her while she thinks of how good our head of house smells! Chocolate, wasn't it Hermione!'_

Hermione smiled at the Slytherin girls teasing._ 'Enough, I think he is coming! Don't make me laugh!'_

_sshgsshgsshgsshg $$$$$$$SShg_

When Snape entered his office, the first thing he noticed was that the young witch was on the verge of laughter. What could be so funny about his office that was making her want to laugh? He tamped down on the urge to peek inside her head.

'Miss Granger, do you find something amusing about my office?'

'No sir, I was just thinking of something that happened earlier today. Nothing of consequence.'

He didn't bother to answer. He sat behind his desk and steepled his fingers, giving her his best intimidating stare.

'You had some questions for me, Miss Granger?'

'Yes sir, I was wondering about the Wolfsbane potion.' Her voice was eager and she leaned forward in her seat as she spoke.

'You've made it twice this month now and I thought that Professor Lupin only needed it once a month. I've also noticed that you are making really large batches of it. When we were in third year, Harry said that the professor only needed to drink a goblet full. Why are you making so much sir? I read that it was one of the most complicated potions to create, doesn't it tire you out to make it more than once each month?'

Snape kept his face blank, but he was surprised and just a little impressed. The girl was extremely astute. She had noticed that he was making larger batches than usual. He hadn't expected her to be that observant. It would do good for him to remember that in the future.

She was sitting on the edge of her seat with an expectant look on her face and he had to hold back the urge to smirk in triumph. The girl was so eager to learn, it would be easy to manipulate her. He held his silence as he looked at her for a long moment.

'Miss Granger. What is the nature of your relationship with Miss Parkinson?'

She blinked in surprise at his change in subject.

'Sir?'

'Miss Granger, I am prepared to strike a deal with you. I will answer your questions about the Wolfsbane potion if you will answer my questions about your friend Miss Parkinson.'

He watched as she narrowed her eyes at him and absently caught her bottom lip between her teeth. She was always doing that. He had noticed in the last three weeks that whenever she concentrated on something she chewed on her bottom lip. He looked down at her hands; she also had the habit of rubbing the palm of her wand hand. The girl was a Gryffindor through and through. None of his Slytherins would reveal their emotions so easily.

She spoke slowly in a low voice. 'I will tell you about Pansy if you answer my questions and let me assist with the Wolfsbane potion from now on. I want to learn how to brew it.'

Snape was astonished. The foolish girl was actually trying to bargain with him!

'Miss Granger, you are in no position to demand that of me.'

'Professor Snape, you said you wanted to strike a deal with me.' Her voice quavered a little as she spoke, but she looked at him straight in the eyes. 'Those are my terms. I will answer your questions if you agree.'

_Damn foolish witch! _Snape gave her his most intimidating scowl, but she looked back at him boldly. It was clear she was determined to not back down.

He had no choice; he needed to learn what he could about the Parkinson girl. He had noticed her slip. She had referred to her as _Pansy_. She was ready to tell him the truth. He could possibly gain a little ground back.

'Very well, if you tell me everything about your relationship with Miss Parkinson, I will answer your questions, I will teach you how to brew the Wolfsbane potion and I will let you assist me on it _one time_.'

'One time? No, that might not be enough for me to learn it! I want to help you on it from now on.'

'Miss Granger. Those are _my_ terms.' He let his voice drop down one octave; it was almost a growl now. 'I have been extremely lenient with you and I suggest you agree to them. As it is, you will find the Gryffindor hourglass to be significantly less empty by tomorrow evening.'

Her eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth in shock. 'You can't do that! I would have to report it to Dumbledore; it isn't fair for you to take house points away during our potions sessions!'

He smirked at her and said in a silky voice. 'I am not taking any points away from you during our potions session. I may however, find reason to take points away from every Gryffindor I come in contact with during my classes tomorrow.' He watched in amusement as her face changed between shock and outrage at his last comment.

She opened her mouth as if to argue again but before she said anything she cocked her head to one side and seemed to have lost track of the conversation. He watched as she nodded her head once as if in agreement, then she looked at him again.

'We are getting side tracked Professor. I will agree to your terms.'

Snape kept his face impassive as he looked at her. He had never seen someone act so peculiarly. He hadn't expected her to capitulate so suddenly. He would never admit it to anyone but himself, but he had been enjoying their little battle. She wasn't the type to back down and he was prepared to go on for a few more minutes at least.

'Very well. I'm glad to see you have some sense in you Miss Granger.'

She gave him a disgruntled look but said nothing.

'I will go first, shall I? I think, due to the lateness of the hour, you can answer my questions tonight and we will start our work on the Wolfsbane next week when we meet. Is that acceptable to you?

She sighed audibly; she clearly didn't want to agree. But she simply nodded, 'Yes sir. That will be fine.'

He felt a flash of disappointment at her submissive behavior, he had learned in the last few weeks how stubborn she could be. Her sudden willingness to agree with him seemed out of character for her. What was going on? It was almost as if she were being coerced into agreeing with him.

He watched her with narrowed eyes as he asked his first question.

'Good. Now then, Miss Granger. Please tell me, what is the nature of your relationship with Miss Parkinson?'

'She is one of my best friends.'

'And how long have you been friends with her?'

'Since this summer, before school resumed in September.'

Snape was amazed. He hadn't expected her to be quite so candid in her answers, and… _this summer? How had the two girls met before school had begun?_

'Miss Granger, I will know it if you are lying to me. I want you to explain to me how it is that a muggleborn witch such as yourself, met up with Miss Parkinson over the summer. How is it that you can now declare to me that she is your best friend?'

'Well, sir, Pansy sent me an email this summer. It's a bit like Owl post but on computers. Muggle's use email all the time. Do you know what a computer is?'

He raised one eyebrow at her. 'Yes Miss Granger, of course I do. Please continue your story.'

'Anyways, Pansy sent me this letter and asked me to meet her at this pub. Well, she sort of sent it in code, and I didn't know it was her. Actually I didn't know who it was, but it was clear from her letter that she needed my help. So I went to the pub in muggle London and she told me she had overheard this conversation…'

Snape didn't bother to hide his astonishment as Miss Granger finished her story. After meeting at the pub, she and Miss Parkinson had resumed their friendship here at school and had begun to research the very same spell he himself was researching for Voldemort.

He rubbed his hand over his face as he felt a headache coming on. The two young women were playing a dangerous game. If what Miss Granger said was true, Miss Parkinson had already managed to fool both himself and Bellatrix recently at the Yule ball. He hated to admit it, but it was clear that he had grossly underestimated both Miss Granger and Miss Parkinson.

'Sir?'

'Sir? Er… may I suggest something?'

He looked up at the young witch sitting before him.

'Yes, Miss Granger? Is there anything else you need to tell me?'

'Sir, I think you should talk with Pansy.'

Before he could reply to her suggestion, there was a knock on his door. He looked the hourglass on his desk, it was well past curfew. He grasped his wand and stood behind his desk.

'Miss Granger, not a word of this to anyone.' He whispered.

'Enter.' He commanded in a louder voice, looking back towards the door.

'Hello Professor.' Pansy said as she entered his office, closing the door behind her.

SSSSSSSHGHGHG

_AN: I want to thank you all for your great reviews. I love getting them and I do follow your suggestions, they are very helpful. As soon as I finish a chapter, I post it on Later, I revise my chapters with my wonderful beta (shout out to Septentrion here!) and then post it onto The Petulant Poetess. So please, keep the reviews coming. They are a great help!_

_AN: some of you have mentioned the fact that I don't have clear breaks in my story. Sorry! Fanfiction is hard to work with and I have trouble getting those to show up when I post it._


	13. Chapter 13: Diced Asparagus

**Chapter 13: Diced Asparagus**

Disclaimer: see earlier chapters

A/N: Sorry it took so long everyone. I know some of you were hoping for a quick update. I had a difficult time with this last round of the ss/hg gift exchange and had to concentrate fully on it. Keep in mind, this is a completely un-revised, un-beta'd chapter. I just wanted to get it out! My beta will be going over it later.

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Severus Snape had always prided himself on not being easily manipulated. After all, he was a Slytherin; naturally suspicious and not easy to fool.

When he opened his office door to Miss Parkinson, his first thought was that Miss Granger should have been a Slytherin. She had played him. He felt a very small spark of admiration for the Gryffindor Witch, and a large portion of shame for himself. Miss Parkinson didn't arrive at his office by coincidence. The two young women had planned it. Miss Granger had always planned on telling him about her relationship with Miss Parkinson, with or without his agreement to tell her about the Wolfsbane potion. She had just taken advantage of the opportunity which he had presented to her.

As Pansy Parkinson settled herself into the chair next to Miss Granger, he looked at the bushy haired girl and raised one eyebrow.

'What a coincidence, Miss Parkinson, Miss Granger and I were just speaking of you.'

At his sarcastic tone, the girl flashed him a sheepish smile.

Miss Parkinson's smile, on the other hand, was sly and calculating. 'You don't say!' she said in a mocking tone, 'Well, I guess I just have great timing, don't you think Moine?' This caused Miss Granger to giggle. Snape sneered at the slytherin witch's show of bravado. It was clear that both girls were enjoying themselves.

It was time to regain some control of the situation.

'It is late and I don't have all night to listen to the endless prattling of two young witches. Now that Miss Parkinson has arrived, I want to hear your whole story again. Don't leave any detail out.'

He listened as the girls told their story. Each from her own persepective of the events that had unfolded. He now had no question of the sincerity of their friendship. It was obvious as they spoke, how close they had become. They were connected in a way he couldn't understand and as they spoke, they finished each other's sentences. It was almost like watching a dance, the way they worked together to tell their story.

The smooth, dance-like quality was only halted when they came to the end and spoke of their meetings here at school. When they spoke of meeting in various empty classrooms and of practicing Occlumency together, he could sense a difference. They were holding something back.

As the two witches finished their tale, he rubbed a hand down his face. His eyes felt gritty and it was hours past curfew. He had much to think about.

His voice was weary when he spoke. 'I know that this is not the whole story. It is obvious you are holding something back.'

He was watching both girls' faces carefully, otherwise he would have missed the slight widening of Miss Grangers eyes. Miss Parkinson's face remained impassive and he felt a spark of pride for one of his Slytherins.

He smirked at the Gryffindor. 'You Gryffindor's have never been good at lying, it's useless to try now, Miss Granger.'

The bushy- haired witch had gained control over her facial expressions, another example of Miss Parkinson's influence on her, and she spoke in an innocent voice.

'I don't know what you are talking about Professor, we have told you the absolute truth tonight.'

He was too tired to argue further with either witch.

'Come, I will escort you both to your dormitories. It is late and I will need to think of all you have told me tonight.'

'Sir,' It was Miss Parkinson who spoke now, 'We had hoped that by telling you, it would relieve some of the stress you are under. Will this help you?'

He regarded her for a moment. Her face remained expressionless, but her Gryffindor counterpart looked up at him eagerly.

'Yes, Miss Parkinson. I believe this will help.'

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Pansy pressed her thumb to her palm a second time.

'_Goodnight girls, Snape is taking us to our dorm's now. See you all tomorrow after classes?' 'See Hermione, it was a good idea. He said it would help.'_

There was a chorus of _'Goodnights'_ and _'See you tomorrows'_ that ran through Hermione's head as she pressed her palm to end contact with the girls.

Out-loud, Hermione spoke as they arrived outside of the Slytherin portrait.

'Goodnight Pans. See you tomorrow in Defense class.'

'Night, Hermione. Good night Professor, thank you for such an interesting evening.' She added with a smirk.

Hermione looked at the dour man standing to her right, his face was carefully blank.

'Good night Miss Parkinson. We will speak again soon.' He said in a quiet voice as he turned on his heal and started walking towards the Gryffindor tower. Hermione smiled once more at Pansy before hurrying after him.

The professor broke the silence as they arrived outside the Gryffindor portrait of the sleeping fat lady.

'Miss Granger, am I right in assuming that you and Miss Parkinson had the entire evening planned ahead of time?'

'Yes sir. We agreed ahead of time to tell you about our relationship.'

'And the requests you made about the Wolfsbane potion?'

'Well, sir. You seemed willing to make a deal.' She smiled sheepishly at him.

He regarded her quietly for a moment before speaking. He was staring straight into her eyes.

'Five points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, for trying to manipulate one of your professors.' His voice was pitched low and she unconsciously leaned forward in order to hear him.

'Yes sir.' She replied in a sullen tone when she realized he was docking more points from Gryffindor. Now was not the time to argue, she had already won a small victory over him in regards to the Wolfsbane Potion.

He leaned down and brought his lips close to her ear, grasping her arm lightly. She caught the now familiar scent of chocolate and sandalwood, and inhaled slowly.

'Seven points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger, for exuding such Slytherin tendancies.'

Hermione gasped and turned her head to look him in the eyes. His face was close to hers and she noted absently that she could see each separate hair that made up his eyelashes. His eyes held an amused glint and he smirked at her for a second before letting go of her arm and stalking away. _He had actually awarded me points! Nobody in Gryffindor would ever believe it. _

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Severus Snape entered his private rooms and felt like weeping in relief. The elves had already been here and had left his pot of hot chocolate on the hearth under a warming spell. It was exactly what he needed after the long weary day he had experienced.

He relaxed into his large wing-back chair and slowly sipped his chocolate, chewing idly on a small marshmallow, as he mulled over what the two young witches had just told him. He remembered the dance-like quality of their story. There was something significant there; he just wasn't sure yet what that was.

Snape couldn't help but be impressed by the two women. They had accomplished a great deal, and nobody had noticed. Snape felt relief wash over him. He would not have to watch Miss Parkinson go down the same path of destruction that Draco seemed determined to follow. If nothing else, he would be comforted by the fact that one of his Slytherins, would not make that decision.

Miss Granger and Miss Parkinson were clearly good influences on each other. He grimaced as he remembered the way the Gryffindor witch had 'made a deal' with him tonight; undoubtedly Miss Parkinsons' influence, there. In all truth, he was not too put-out about the fact that he had to teach her wolfsbane. He had enjoyed sparring with her verbally and away from the rest of the class she was much less of an annoyance. He did enjoy teaching when he felt that someone would actually try to learn the information.

He acknowledged as well that from a practically side of things, it would help to have another person on hand who could prepare such a difficult potion; in the eventuality that he was…detained. He had grudgingly told her that they would only make the potion once, but he would make sure she knew it like the back of her hand before that time. Manipulated or not into the practice, he would make sure she really learned this potion.

Severus smirked when he remembered their 'negotiations.' Miss Granger was not your typically Gryffindor. He had missed the fact that sometime in the last year, Miss Granger had grown up. She would always be the over-zealous, know-it-all to most of the school. But Miss Parkinson, and now he, knew differently. He was seeing now that Miss Granger was capable of a lot more than just homework.

He had spent more time with the Gryffindor lately than the last five years combined. He was seeing more and more examples of a maturity that set her above most of the members of her class. She achieved a sort of grace and completeness that came with womanhood. He had glanced her way a few times as she was concentrating on her potions, lately. Tonight was the first night he had been able to put into words what had changed for the girl. He doubted that those two dunder-headed friends of hers had even noticed.

His mind drifted back to thirty minutes ago when he had left her at the Gryffindor House entrance. He had felt an…Awareness, when he had grasped her arm. His face had been close to hers and he could see the smoothness of her pale cheek when he whispered to her. He had been close enough to smell her shampoo; it had reminded him of lotus blossoms.

Severus set his now empty cup down hard on the small table near his chair. He did not like the direction his mind was going in. He should not have spent the last few minutes thinking about what Herm- Miss Granger's hair smells like. Grown up or not, she was still his student and a Gryffindor. He ruthlessly thrust his wayward thoughts of her to the back of his mind and focused on the more pertinent information he had gleaned from this evening.

He thought back to the story that _Miss Granger( Not Hermione; Miss Granger_) and Miss Parkinson had told. It did make things less stressful for him, knowing that he wouldn't have to worry about Miss Parkinson leading Miss Granger to her doom. He allowed himself a small smile as he appreciated the fact that the girls had seemed worried about him. That was unexpected, coming from some of his students. But, as much as he felt relieved and, yes, he would admit it, impressed by Misses Granger and Parkinson, he knew that this would eventually bring up an entirely new set of problems. Voldemort would not be put off forever. There was still much to be done.

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It was three days before Hermione had another session with Professor Snape. She ate her dinner as fast as she could before hurrying to his classroom. Harry was eating his dinner with _Won-Won_ and Lavender this night so nobody asked her what her hurry was. At Ginny's questioning look, Hermione pressed her thumb to her palm in what was now a familiar motion for all of the girls.

_I have a session with Snape tonight. I finally get to learn the Wolfsbane Potion!_

It was Millicent who responded first.

_Oh, well that sounds decidedly boring! Don't bother to keep us in connection with you! Please!_

Hermione heard the other girls laugh in response to Millicent's joke as she gathered her book bag and left the Great Hall

When Hermione arrived at Professor Snape's lab, he had already layed out the ingredients needed for the Wolfsbane potion. He sat at the work table and was examining one of the vials. She couldn't tell what it contained. Hermione excitedly approached the work-table, setting her satchel down underneath it.

'Miss Granger, you are early tonight.'

'Yes, sir, I am eager to begin.'

The professor scowled at her before setting the vial down with a thunk that echoed in the lab.

'Miss Granger, understand that while I may have agreed to allow you to learn the Wolfsbane Potion, you will need to listen to everything I say. These ingredients are both volatile and expensive and I won't have them wasted. Is this clear?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Good. Now first, I would like to you to identify every ingredient on this table. You will learn about each ingredient first, then we will see about putting them together for a potion.'

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'Miss Granger.

Miss Granger.'

Hermione looked up from the book as the professors voice registered in her head.

'Yes, sir?'

'Miss Granger, it's almost curfew. It's time you returned to your dormitory.'

'Oh, but…' She gestured to the book she had been reading.

'You can borrow it over-night, Miss Granger. While we work through the Wolfsbane Potion, I ask that you are here more often. Come again tomorrow evening and bring my book back at that time.'

Hermione smiled at him before gathering her things and exiting the lab. This had been a most interesting evening. After going over each ingredient used in the Wolfsbane Potion, Professor Snape had handed her a book about the Damocles Belby; the inventor of the potion. The book was a detailed account of the process that Damocles Belby went through before inventing the potion that earned him an Order of Merlin.

Hermione had wanted to whinge at first, once she realized they wouldn't be brewing the Wolfsbane that evening, but she had been caught up in the book almost immediately and hated to put it down. After going over the ingredients, Snape had explained to her that he wanted her to know everything about the Wolfsbane before he let her assist him. No detail was insignificant, even if it did take a few weeks before they actually brewed it.

Hermione went straight up to her room once she arrived at the tower and prepared for bed. She would pull her bed curtains and light her wand and finish the book tonight. She hoped that Snape may be impressed with how eagerly she was researching the subject.

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'No, that will not do at all. You are not cutting that correctly!'

'What? I'm doing it just as you showed me.'

'No, Miss Granger, you are not. It needs to be cleanly diced, look at this piece, this is not cleanly diced. If you would just dice it the way I have shown you, it would work.'

'I can't help it, it's so stringy. The texture makes it impossible to dice correctly.'

Hermione wanted to roll her eyes. No, what she really wanted, was to throw the knife on the table before storming out of the room. He was being so difficult.

It had been two weeks since she had started learning about the Wolfsbane and now she was practicing her cutting technique. Apparently, Monkshed stems had a similar consistency to boiled asparagus and so she was trying to cleanly dice boiled asparagus. Only no matter what she did, the cuts never came out perfectly clean.

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose as if to stave away a headache.

'Miss Granger, it is no use. I cannot have you assist me in brewing the Wolfsbane Potion if you cannot even dice the ingredients correctly.'

'Sir, this is not monkshed, its boiled asparagus. The texture is too stringy to dice cleanly like you have asked, I am holding my hand exactly as you have shown and still it isn't working. Perhaps if I had a sharper knife'

'Miss Granger, you are not doing it exactly as I have shown. Pay attention.'

He stood next to her at the table and reached for a few aspargus off the plate the house-elves had provided. Plucking the knife out of her hand he quickly diced two of the asparagus into quarters. His cuts were perfectly clean.

Hermione barely resisted the urge to stomp her foot. She couldn't figure out what she was missing. He handed her the knife and she tried again, only to mutilate the quarter of asparagus she was trying to dice.

'Professor, I don't know what I am doing wrong. I am trying to cut it exactly like you just did.'

He scowled at her before coming to stand behind her. Hermione looked over her shoulder to see him standing directly behind her, she held back a gasp of surprise at his closeness.

'Miss Granger, look at the table and pay attention to what I am about to show you.'

She looked back at the table as he placed his hand over hers. His voice was near her ear as he instructed her on what to do.

'Now, firstly, you are not holding the knife correctly. Circling her with his arms, he arranged her fingers correctly on the knife. Hermione felt herself grow warm as she stood within the circle of his arms. His familiar scent wafted around her as he leaned even closer to inspect her hands. She could feel his hair sweep across her cheek as he lifted her hand, still holding the knife.

'This is the correct way to hold the knife. Now, I am going to place my hand over yours and guide it through a few cuts. Pay attention to where I apply pressure and how I hold my wrist. This is what you are missing when you try it.'

Hermione felt the difference immediately. It was right near the end of the cut, he applied pressure near the bottom of the knife and that helped to keep the cut clean while it separated the two pieces of the vegetable. It was such a subtle difference that she hadn't been able to tell by just watching him.

'Now, I am going to just rest my hand on yours while you try to cut. I want you to try to remember what I did and imitate it.'

Hermione nodded her head as he laid his hand gently on top of hers. She sliced the little knife diagonally across the vegetable before applying pressure near the bottom of the knife, making a clean cut through the asparagus.

'I did it!'

Hermione smiled and turned her head to look at him. His face was so close that their noses bumped before he took a hasty step back. She blinked, letting the smile falter just a bit. She cleared her throat nervously.

'Er… Thank you sir, I appreciate your showing me how to do it. There was a difference between what you and I were doing.'

He nodded walking towards his desk as he gave his next set of instructions.

'Indeed, you have succeeded. Finish cutting the rest of the asparagus on the plate and you can go. I think we can begin the potion next week.'

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Hermione felt like skipping as she traveled back towards Gryffindor tower. They were going to start the potion soon. Finally! In one more week they would begin the potion. She felt like she knew the Wolfsbane recipe better than any other potion she had ever worked on, and had begun to worry that she would never get to make it. There was always something wrong with everything she practiced.

Her face lit up with a wide smile. Today he had been pleased. He hadn't given her a compliment; she would never expect something like that, but he hadn't criticized her. She had cut the asparagus perfectly, after he had shown her how to do it, that is.

Hermione's steps slowed as she recalled the way he had stepped behind her and circled his arms around her. His body had been so warm against hers as he had slowly diced the vegetable. She had enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by his warmth, smelling that familiar chocolate and sandalwood scent. His arms had felt strong and she had enjoyed his closeness…

Hermione had stopped walking altogether, not noticing that she was standing in the middle of the hall. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed this happening, it had been so gradual.

_Oh Gods! I'm attracted to him._

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A/N: There you have it. They are finally starting to be aware of each other at least! I thought it would never happen!


	14. Chapter 14: Voldemort's Plan

**Chapter 14: Voldemort's Plan**

_A/N: See disclaimer in previous chapters. _

_A/N: Sorry about the long wait between chapters, this one was very hard for me to write. Remember that this chapter is not yet beta'd, so all mistakes are my own. Thanks as always to my beta Septentrion who will improve this immensely once she looks at it!_

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_I'm attracted to Snape. I'm attracted to my professor. I'm attracted to the greasy git! _ Hermione's mind was going around and around this thought when he walked into her defense class the next afternoon. She took her seat next to Pansy and looked down at her desk, not wanting to meet her professor's eyes.

'Whats up? Your acting a little weird.'

'Nothing, I'm just…Tired. I was too excited to sleep last night; Professor Snape said we can start the wolfsbane next week.'

'That's all? There isn't anything else bothering you?'

'No, just as I said, I'm tired.'

_'Hermione, I've been in your head for a while now and it's hard for any of us to keep things from each other. I think that something else is going on._

Hermione let out a sigh. Pansy was right. It was almost impossible to keep secrets from each other now that they were linked. It was both a burden and a blessing. Hermione knew she would have to tell the girls about what she was feeling. She pressed her palm, while shooting a pleading look in Pansy's direction.

_'Not now, Okay? Its really not that important, and I will tell you later, after I have had a chance to process it.'_

Pansy nodded at Hermione, just as Snape dropped their essays on the worktable in front of them. He didn't look at each girl, just continued to stalk around the classroom, shooting out comments about the latest batch of dismal essays he had graded.

Hermione unrolled the scroll, only to gasp when a smaller piece of parchment floated to her desk.

**Miss Granger, **

**I would appreciate it if you and Miss Parkinson can meet with me this evening after dinner. There is much that I wish to discuss with you.**

**S.S.**

Hermione passed the scrap parchment over to Pansy, trying to be as discreet as possible. She then pressed her palm and thought of all of the girls.

_'Girls, Snape is asking Pansy and I to meet with him tonight.'_

After a moment of quiet, Hermione heard a mix of voices as each girl spoke at one time.

_'Do you know what he wants?' 'You can't tell him about us.' 'Do you think he suspects about the rest of us?'_

_'I don't know what he wants. He just sent a note about it with my essay he passed back. He is just asking that Pansy and I show up after dinner to speak with him.'_

_'You guys can't tell him about the rest of us. We aren't ready for that.' Millicent said, her voice just slightly panicked._

_'Of course not. There is no way he can suspect about the rest of you. He probably just wants to go over more details of the spell and what Voldemort expects of me.'_ Pansy said.

_'She's right. When we met with him before and told him we were working together, we never brought up the fact that we can't continue to fool Voldemort forever. He is going to want results soon enough. Pansy is going to have to show something significant the next time that Bellatrix checks up on her.'_

Nobody said anything right away as they thought about this one. Hermione could sense some mild flutters of panic from the girls as they thought about this. What could Pansy bring back the next time? It wouldn't be enough to show the same sort of images she showed over the Christmas Hols.

'Perhaps, Mr. Weasley, If you actually made an effort to read your text, you would be able to tell me something that you should have learned back in your third year. Lets see if our resident know-it-all can do any better. Miss Granger, can you explain to your friend why hanging garlic around your neck does not repel a vampire.'

Hermione snapped her eyes up to Professor Snape. She had been too wrapped up in the conversation with the girls to pay attention to the professor's lecture. She was lucky she had even heard his question.

'Er… Vampires are only affected by garlic if they ingest it, sir. Smelling it is not enough. Depending on how much they ingest, garlic can make them pass out for a significant amount of time, but it won't kill a vampire.'

_'I almost missed that one, lets link during dinner and talk some more.' She thought, pressing her palm and ending the link with the other girls._

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_'No matter what, Hermione, make sure you don't give anything away tonight.'_

_'You know I wouldn't do that!'_

_'Remember last time? He could tell we were keeping something from him. You let it show in your face.'_

_'Well, I was caught by surprise, it was only for a second.'_

_'Don't get caught by surprise this time. Remember, keep your face blank and your Occlumency walls up the whole time. Don't give him a chance to catch you by surprise this time.'_

_'I won't, I promise. My face will be blank the whole time. I swear!'_

_'Gryffindors!'_ Millicent said in a mocking tone, causing some of her housemate's to laugh.

_'Hey! You have to admit, for Gryffindor's, we have all made excellent progress in How to be a Slytherin 101!'_ Ginny said, cutting into the girls laughter.

_'Well, if nothing else, you can lie to other Gryffindors. But Snape is the best at detecting this stuff. Hermione needs to be better than a Slytherin!'_ Daphne said.

_'I said I will be. Don't worry. I promise he won't get anything by me this time. Speaking of which, do you think he has a copy of Morgana's Journal?'_

_'How could he? Only girls are worthy to read it, right?' _Pansy said.

Hermione bit her lip, pretending to be engrossed in a book she had propped against the pumpkin juice pitcher.

_'Well, I've just been thinking. What does Snape know about what Voldemort wants from you. Does Voldemort even know as much about this spell as we do?'_

Padma's voice sounded excited in Hermione's head._ 'Well, Snape's a spy right? He could tell us just what Voldemort's plans for Pansy are. That way we will know how to proceed. Right now, we are just guessing he wants us to perform the Adminoverta Femina, it could be something different.'_

_'Well,' _Pansy said. '_Hermione and I will try to get as much information from him as we can tonight. In fact, Hermione, lets get going. I want to arrive a few minutes early.'_

_'Good Luck.' _Susan said, as the other girls echoed the sentiment.

_'We will keep you linked in, but don't be surprised if we suddenly blank you out. We may need to put up our Occlumency walls and it would be easier if we aren't linked.'_ Hermione said, as she gathered her things and started out of the great hall. Pansy was already waiting in the hallway.

When they arrived outside of his office, Pansy grasped the doorknob.

_'Wait. Pansy, shouldn't we knock?'_

Pansy smirked.

'_Okay, time for another Slytherin lesson. All you Gryffindors listen up. I was about to open Snape's door and Hermione asked why I didn't knock.'_

_'I'm guessing you always knock, Hermione?' _Tracey said.

'_Of course I do. I know he is expecting us, but we are a little early.'_

_'Exactly! By walking in a little early, without any prior warning, we could catch him off guard. Who knows what information we might uncover by catching him during a private moment!' _Pansy said.

'_Always take any opportunity to learn something new about your opponent. You never know what information could be useful.' _Millicent said in a voice that implied it was a lesson to live by.

_'But Professor Snape isn't our opponent. He is on our side.' _Ginny said.

_'He may not be on Voldemort's side, but he is not what I would consider an ally. It still makes sense to learn as much as we can.'_

With that said, Pansy opened the door as quietly as possible.

The first thing Hermione noticed, was that the flames in the fireplace were still tinted green. Snape stood a few feet away, apparently having just exited the floo. As the girls entered the room, he grabbed a jar from the mantle and tossed it across the room.

'Bloody old Bastard! He asks the impossible!

He hadn't noticed the girls entrance yet and blindly grabbed for something else on the fireplace mantle - this time it was a figurine of some sort- and hurled that as well. Still muttering intelligibly to himself, he cast a silent reparo on each object, levitating them back to fireplace mantle. It was only then that he noticed his audience.

Hermione had to admire the fact that he didn't show one ounce of surprise at their presence. He simply scowled in their direction and motioned to the two seats set in front of his desk.

'Knock before you enter next time, Miss Parkinson.' He said in a curt voice before taking his seat behind the desk. Pansy just smirked before following Hermione to sit down in front of him.

'I've asked you here because we need to talk about what you plan on doing next, Miss Parkinson. What do you know of Voldemort's plans?'

'All I know is that I am supposed to befriend as many girls from school as possible, in every house. I believe once I have their complete trust, I will be given more instructions.'

He stood up, looking down at both girls.

'I need to retrieve something from my quarters. I will have a house elf bring you something.'

As he left the room, a house elf appeared with a loud crack. He was carrying a heavy silver tray, complete with cups and a large, steaming tea kettle. He set the tray on the desk in front of the girls, bowed low and disappeared with another loud crack. Hermione bit her lip, wondering if he was so quiet because he had been mistreated.

Pansy leaned forward, pooring out two cups of the steaming drink. After handing one to Hermione she frowned, looking down into her own cup.

'What is this stuff? What are those things floating around in it?'

Hermione sniffed once before smiling.

'Its hot cocoa! With small Muggle marshmallows. I usually drink this when I am home with my parents. It's good.'

Pansy looked skeptical. 'Snape drinks Muggle hot cocoa?'

'I ordered that for you two, assuming you would prefer that over what I usually drink, Miss Parkinson.'

He said in a curt tone, as he re-entered his office, carrying a large tome.

Hermione sat up straighter in her chair when she recognized the book. It was the one he had purchased at Yosh's bookstore. She would finally get a chance to see it.

'_That's the book Snape bought at the bookstore this summer.'_

Pansy glanced over at Hermione before looking at the book Snape was carrying. '_Do you think Voldemort also has a copy of that book?'_

Snape set the book on the desk in front of him before flicking his wand and conjuring up another cup and saucer. The contents of which, Hermione assumed were rather bitter and harsh, the 'usual' that only Snape would enjoy drinking.

'This book is called _The Curse of Avalon,_ and it has some information on Voldemort's plans. There is a description of a powerful spell devised by a dark witch from a long time ago. The spell can only be performed by women of a certain age, and it has to be a large group of women. That is why Voldemort has asked Miss Parkinson to form alliances with other witches from the school.'

Hermione leaned forward to get a better look at the book.

'This is the book you bought at the bookstore this summer, isn't it, sir?'

He nodded.

'Sir, does Voldemort also have a copy of this book? Is that how he found the spell? What does he intend to do with the spell?'

Snape held up a hand and shot Hermione a dark look. 'Before we address your questions, Miss Granger, I have questions of my own for both you and Miss Parkinson.'

'With all due respect, Sir. We gave you quite a bit of information the last time we all met, I think it's our turn to ask some questions.' Pansy said in a steely voice.

Hermione tensed, waiting for him to explode at Pansy's impertinence. He surprised her by leaning back in his chair and steepeling his fingers. He regarded Pansy for a few moments before nodding once.

'Very well, Miss Parkinson. I suppose I can see your point in this. One question for a question. You may go first.'

Hermione opened her mouth to re-state one of her previous questions, but Snape sent her a quelling look.

'Not you, Miss Granger. Miss Parkinson will ask the questions this night.' She felt her face turn pink and he looked slightly smug as he turned his attention back to Miss Parkinson.

_'Relax, Hermione, he doesn't know we can talk to each other. You'll get your questions answered.'_

'Sir, what exactly is the spell that Voldemort intends for me to perform?'

'Voldemort asked me to research a spell performed by the villainess Morgan la Fey during the times of Merlin. Apparently, right before Avalon sunk into the mist forever, Morgan created a spell that was extremely powerful. She combined her magic with other women of Avalon. The spell only lasted approximately thirty minutes, but she along with the power of the other women, managed to destroy an entire castle and kill the knights within. These were of course, the famed Camelot and Knights of the Round Table.'

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Snape's words, feeling a bit affronted by his negative description of Morgaine. But, as she thought over his words, she realized something. His account of the events was completely wrong. If Morgaine's journal was to be believed, his book and Voldemort were all wrong. They had no idea about the real purpose of the spell or what really happened between those women.

_'I don't think Voldemort, or Snape, know about Morgaine's Journal.'_

_'I agree, his account was all wrong. We need to read that book and find out exactly what Voldemort expects of us.'_

'Professor,' Pansy said in a low voice, 'Are you saying that Voldemort expects me to use this spell to help him destroy another castle… Like Hogwarts?'

Snape's scowl seemed to deepen as he shook his head.

'Voldemort doesn't believe in the end he will need you to help him. He believes that you can combine your powers with the other women and then he will be able to take that power from you.'

Snape held up his hand when Pansy would have asked another question. 'My turn, Miss Parkinson.

'I want to talk to you about the other girls.'

Hermione immediately cast her eyes towards her feet. She didn't want Snape to see her surprise. He knew about the other girls!

Luckily, Snape had not been looking at the Gryffindor witch, and Pansy managed to keep her face carefully blank.

'Other girls, Professor? What do you mean?'

'Come, now Miss Parkinson. You know what I mean; Voldemort expects you to have gained the trust of a majority of girls from this school in order to perform this spell. You will need to give Bellatrix more information the next time you meet. What do you plan to do?'

Pansy assumed a thoughtful look on her face, as a cacophony of female voices sounded in both Her and Hermione's heads.

_'Don't tell him about us, we aren't ready for that!'_

_'What if we just told him about some of us?'_

_'You promised you wouldn't tell until we are all ready!'_

_'What if you told him you were planning to recruit more girls, but haven't done so yet?'_

_'Don't give anything away to Snape!'_

Hermione discreetly pressed her palm and mentally tried to yell over the other voices.

_'Girls! Not all at once, we can't understand you. Pansy, how about you tell him you plan on recruiting more girls very soon. Don't name anyone specifically, just say you haven't talked to anyone yet, but will do so in the future.'_

_'Okay, girls, does that sound allright? If I tell Snape I plan on doing so in the future. None of you will be named.'_

There was a chorus of_ 'Okay's'_ and _'Allrights' f_rom the girls.

'Well, sir, Hermione and I plan on talking to other girls very soon. We thought we would… Recruit girls to start working with us. It couldn't hurt to have more people who are preparing to work against the Death Eaters when the time comes. That way I will have some real memories of talking with these girls, to show Mrs. Lestrange.'

'Miss Parkinson, you are playing a very dangerous game. Bellatrix is a formidable witch. I advise you not to take her for granted. She is very powerful and very intelligent…In a mad sort of way. Be careful.'

Pansy nodded. 'I know, Professor Snape, but I don't have any choice in the matter. Do you think I would voluntarily do this if I felt like I had a choice. I refuse to be used in the way Voldemort intends.'

Snape's expression was solemn as he nodded in understanding. 'I commend you on the courage it has taken to bring you this far.'

Pansy kept her face blank, but Hermione could feel her surprise and pleasure at his compliment.

'Thank You, sir.'

Hermione had been looking at Pansy when she felt the weight of his stare. She looked up and met his black gaze.

'Miss Granger. What about you? I find it surprising that you have not insisted on involving your two cohorts in all of this. How do Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley feel about your newest alliance?'

Hermione opened her mouth to answer, when Pansy sent a thought to her.

_'Don't answer Hermione! One question for a question. Ask him a question first!'_

'Sir, I believe its our turn to ask a question.' Hermione said, her attempt at sounding confident ending on a shaky note.

Hermione imagined that she could feel the Professor's displeasure even while he kept his face carefully calm.

'So it is, Miss Granger. You do seem to be learning quite a bit from Miss Parkinson, here. Very well, ask your question.'

'Sir, How does Vol… Er, your master, plan on stealing Pansy's power after she has combined with the other girls? Is that also in your book? Or does he have a different book? A person cannot just alter a spell at his or her own will and as far as I know, this spell is only for women.'

Snape nodded, a thoughtful look on his face as he regarded Hermione.

'The dark Lord is extremely intelligent, Miss Granger. He had earned some of the highest marks in history while attending Hogwarts. I believe he is capable of devising a way to alter this spell to suit his needs. In this book,' he gestured to the tome on the desk, 'there are a number descriptions of the spell as it was performed by Morgan la Fey. Basically, the women in her group combined their power and the power was then place on their leader, in this case Morgana. She then wielded that power to suit their needs.

Voldemort plans on being the vessel in which Miss Parkinson and the other girls will place their power. If the girls perform the spell with the intention of placing the power in Miss Parkinson, he will take the power before it has reached her.'

All three of them were silent for a moment before Pansy spoke, her voice nearly a whisper.

'I am guessing he doesn't plan on any power ever returning to me or the other girls.'

Pansy was pale and she was sending a panicked look towards Hermione. They had spoken in the past about this possibility but coming from Snape's mouth seemed to make it more of a reality. Morgaine had said that the mis-use of this spell resulted in a loss of power for all involved. Letting the power be wielded by a man would definitely count as a mis-use. Hermione doubted that it could work as easily as Voldemort or Snape imagined. The combined essence of female power could not be successful directed by a man, Morgaine was clear on the large difference in male and female magic. In the end it wouldn't matter though; if Voldemort tried to steal the power, it would be lost to Pansy forever.

'No, Miss Parkinson, once given any power, Voldemort would not willingly relinquish it.'

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_A/N: Please Review._


	15. Chapter 15: Panic and Suspicious Friends

Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Panic and suspicious friends**

_A/N: This is an un-beta'd chapter so please blame all mistakes on me! I'm sure there are a lot of them. My beta, the wonderful Septentrion has just welcomed her baby girl into the world and needs a break from fanfic life so she can enjoy real life for a change. As always, Thanks Septentrion for all you have done!_

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Everyone was talking at once both inside outside their minds. Hermione couldn't clearly make out who was saying what, but she could understand the underlying feelings of panic that each girl projected.

The classroom which had become their sanctuary felt crowded and chaotic as they argued, each girl attempting to talk above the other. It was Luna who finally was able to bring the group into some semblance of quiet.

'We won't let Voldemort do this.' She said in a sing-song voice, taking advantage of a brief lull in the multiple conversations.

The girls all looked at Luna, and for a moment, the room was silent. The name of the Dark Lord, coming out in that sing-song inflection of Luna's voice left Hermione feeling momentarily at a loss for words. Voldemort's name, when uttered, was usually done so in fear. Pansy took the opportunity to stand up in the same place she and Hermione had stood on the night they had first called all the girls together.

Hermione let herself remember that night and think briefly about how far they had come since then.

Pansy spoke, momentarily holding everyone's attention. 'We need to stop arguing. Luna's right, we can't let Voldemort do this, and we are powerful. We won't let him.'

Hermione stood and joined Pansy.

'She's right. We need to work together, stop arguing and figure out what happens next. This shouldn't be a surprise to us. We know what Voldemort is like, and we were pretty sure about what he was hoping to do. We shouldn't let fear take hold just because Professor Snape said what he did. We accept that Voldemort will try to take our power, and we make a plan.'

'Hermione, come on. This is Voldemort we are talking about. Nobody can beat him, and if he really goes after us, makes us do this spell and tries to harness our combined power, how are we supposed to stop him?' Millicent said in a low voice. 'Who are we kidding?'

'Not to mention all the death eaters.' Anjali said. 'I think we may be out of our depth here.'

'Come on you guys, Hermione is right, we can fight him.' Ginny said, making Hermione feel profoundly grateful that some of the girls still felt confident. Or, she figured, at least willing to _act_ confident in order to support her.

A couple of girls tried chiming in all at once, bringing back the chaotic feel of the room as their conversations erupted into arguments. Hermione looked at Pansy desperately. They needed to do something.

Pansy took a deep breath as her eyes scanned the group of girls, before grabbing Hermione by the elbow and pulling her to the far corner of the room.

'Let them have it out a little longer, we can't keep control when everyone is feeling this way.'

'Pans, what are we going to do? They are all so scared.'

Pansy shrugged, 'I think we need to make a solid plan for the rest of this year. Everyone does better when we are working towards something tangible. We did our blood bonding spell, we figured out how to use our gift. What's next?'

Hermione bit her lower lip. They had been working toward the final spell, the iadminoverta femina./i But they had no idea when it would be a good time to use it. Once they did, Voldemort would be alerted to what they were doing. They only had one shot.

'How do we know when the right time is?' Hermione asked. Pansy didn't bother to pretend she didn't know what Hermione was talking about. They both knew the potential fallouts that would occur once they performed the iadminoverta femina./i

'Pans, I think we need to wait until we are face to face in battle. We could provide the edge that Harry needs to fulfill his part.'

'That could be years from now. We don't know what kind of timeline Voldemort is looking at.'

'I know, but we only have once chance and I really think we need to be patient. If we don't wait for Harry, than nothing will be accomplished. We've all discussed the prophecy. We all know what it means.'

'Hermione, I can't keep fooling my parents and Bellatrix. They – Voldemort is going to expect results soon. By the end of the school year at least, I will need to bring something solid back.'

Hermione bit her lip as she thought over what Pansy said. The Slytherin girl was right. Pansy couldn't go back without more progress to impart. Voldemort was not known for patience.

'Pansy, do you think it will be Bellatrix again? When you go home, I mean. Do you think it will be Bellatrix who you have to speak with?'

'What do you mean?'

'You said that Voldemort would want to see results. Will he…Do you think you will be required to actually meet with Voldemort himself?'

Pansy's eyes grew wide and her breathing quickened. She felt as if her heart would stop as she thought about actually meeting Voldemort face to face, actually trying to Occlude him. She grasped Hermione's shoulders tightly.

'No. Hermione, I can't do that. I'm not ready to beat Voldemort.'

Hermione watched as Pansy's face turned white as a sheet. Pansy was panting now in her panic.

'Pansy stop. Don't panic.' She tried to keep Pansy calm but she wasn't helping. She could still see the fear in Pansy's eyes.

Hermione reached out and gathered Pansy close in a tight hug, trying to find someway to comfort the girl.

'It will be okay, Pans. I know it will. I know we can do this. Remember what Morgaine wrote, we are powerful. Together, all of us girls, we are more powerful than Voldemort, I know it.' Hermione kept talking, holding Pansy tightly as she tried to calm the girl down.

She had been so focused on Pansy that she hadn't noticed how quiet the room had grown. She felt someone's arms go around her and she lifted her head to see that Ginny and Luna had both joined their hug. One by one, each girl stood and quietly walked towards Hermione and Pansy's corner of the room. One by one, her sisters put their arms around her and Pansy. She felt Pansy calm down as she was surrounded by her sisters. She remembered their bond and she felt their love.

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On Sunday morning, Hermione and Pansy decided to take a walk around the grounds of Hogwarts. They needed to plan, and they needed to be seen. They needed the school to see that they were becoming friends.

'I don't want to face Voldemort. I am a strong Occlumens, we both know that, but I don't want to test it that way.'

'We don't know for sure that you will have to see him, Pansy. It could be Bellatrix and Snape again, I mean, your probably still below Voldemorts radar.'

'You don't know that Hermione, not for sure. This whole thing originally came from Voldemort and he will want an update from me soon.' Pansy took a deep breath. 'I plan on being gone before he wants to meet with me.'

'Gone?'

Pansy chewed on her lip, unconsciously imitating her friend's habit. She had thought of this long and hard, and she knew what she needed to do. 'I don't think I should go home after school ends…Hermione, I'm going to need somewhere to go.'

Hermione stopped walking and turned to look at Pansy.

'If you don't go back, that means.' She stopped and took a deep breath. 'Pansy, if you don't go back, Voldemort will know that you're not on his side.'

Pansy's eyes were calm and her face was carefully blank.

'He will know, my parents will know, Draco will know. It would mean I will separate myself from everything I know. I am going to need somewhere safe to hide for the summer. I have thought of this, and I think I could come back here for next term. Hogwarts will always be safe. I just need somewhere to go for the summer.'

'Pansy, if you do this, there won't be any chance to back out. You will be committed to one course of action.'

'Hermione, I am already committed. I would never back out now, not after our blood bonding and you know that. We are sisters now and we are all committed!'

'Okay. So we find you a place to stay for the summer. Then what?'

'Then we wait. It's not the most ideal plan but, it's all we have. We need to wait until it's the right time to perform the iadminoverta femina/i. If it happens this summer, we need to know we can bring all of our sisters together. The girls will need to be ready. If it doesn't happen, we come back to school in the fall and wait some more. We just need to be ready.'

Hermione nodded as she thought about what Pansy was saying.

'You know, we've done mind magic, but we haven't done too much else. We could use some work on basic defense spells and maybe even some of the basic feminine spells and glamours. Maybe that's how we should keep ourselves occupied from now on.' Hermione said in a thoughtful voice. 'We will all go crazy if we are just waiting and not doing.'

Pansy nodded. 'That's a good idea, I think when it comes down to it we will all be part of this war. We will need more than Occlumency and there is a lot more in iMorgaine's Journal that we haven't even covered yet./i'

Hermione smiled, 'we work on defense, we work on our feminine magic and we wait...I guess we need to tell the girls about your decision…and Professor Snape.'

Pansy nodded. 'He could help us. He is the only person we know who has faced Voldemort, he would know if this is the right thing to do…If this is the right time to do it.'

In unspoken consent, both girls turned and resumed their walk.

'Okay.' Hermione said. 'We have something, kind of a plan. It's better than nothing.'

Pansy smirked, a familiar expression that Hermione hadn't seen for a while. 'Waiting is hardly a plan, but it might be enough for now.'

Hermione smiled in response to that. 'It's enough.'

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Severus Snape turned from the window and sat at his desk, reveling in the fact that his office, for once, had a window overlooking Hogwarts grounds. He hated the reasons that Dumbledore had placed him as the Defense Professor, but he still appreciated the fact that he finally had an office that was not in the dungeons.

He thought of the two girls he had just observed slowly walking the Hogwarts grounds. They had obviously been in deep discussion, stopping frequently to discuss a specific point before resuming their slow pace. He marveled at how much had changed in the past few days. It was but a little while ago that the site of those two girls together had struck him with fear. Worried that the brash Gryffindor girl was in over her head and naively following the lead of her sly shrewd, ambitious counterpart.

Severus had not given Miss Granger or Miss Parkinson enough credit. He knew that now and felt intense relief that he would not be forced to watch additional students follow the path that Draco had taken. Severus sighed as he thought of Draco Malfoy. The situation was tense and Severus knew things were coming to a head. What scared him the most was that Draco was directly involved this time.

He made a mental note to schedule another meeting with the Missus Granger and Parkinson. Their last meeting had not ended well, and he knew that it was his fault. He had watched Miss Parkinson fight to keep her face blank as it turned red and then white with fear. His statement about Voldemort's intentions had been spot on, but he admitted to himself later, that he may have been a bit too blunt. These women, seemingly mature, were still very young, and not used to the terrors he faced on an almost daily basis. He had let them leave after that, not getting a chance to discuss everything he had intended to. He still needed to talk to them specifically about the spell.

They needed to lay all their cards on the proverbial table. The two girls were still holding back some information, and Snape knew he needed to push harder. He wondered if their last conversation had managed to convince them of the danger they had put themselves in.

Severus figured that Pansy had maybe one more 'safe' meeting with him and Bellatrix. After that, the Dark Lord would insist upon seeing her. Voldemort would want to see solid results. A growing friendship with Miss Granger was not enough. Snape had thought of little else since his last meeting with the girls and he knew what needed to be done.

Pansy was now a primary player in this war. If Severus' assumptions were correct, this spell that Voldemort wanted her to perform was extremely powerful. In the end, it would most likely make the difference in a battle. In the battle. The spell's power was rooted in the witches who would perform it.

This brought him up short. Witches. More than just two. From what he had read, the spell had been performed by a large number of witches. He thought about what Hermione and Pansy had told him. He remembered that first conversation that had taken place right here in his office and then he realized what he had missed before. This was about more than two witches.

Snape suppressed the desire to shiver with fear. Pansy and Hermione were very smart and very thorough, they wouldn't have missed this detail. Just how many girls were involved? Who else had Pansy and Hermione recruited?

Pansy had Hermione's loyalty. It was clear to Severus and most likely anyone else who observed the girls together. But who else was involved. How many girls had pledged their loyalty to help Pansy, and how was he going to keep them all safe?

Severus knew what needed to be done. What Pansy would need to do. But would she agree to it? Would he be able to convince her to leave her family behind and go into hiding? To, in all essentials, declare what side she stood on for this war.

Would she be Slytherin, and worry about her own skin in this, or has she been too influenced by Miss Granger? Miss Granger, would, no doubt, refuse to hide and insist upon joining the fray. i_Gryffindor foolishness/i _he thought to himself as his mind called up a picture of Miss Granger. They would be meeting tonight to prepare the ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion, he could set up a meeting with the two girls at that time.

He looked at the old fashioned clock he had hung over the doorway of his office. He would meet with Miss Granger in only three hours from now, right after dinner. He thought of the last time they had worked on the potion. The time she had learned to properly cut monkshed.

She was small and had fit comfortably in the circle of his arms when he had shown her the proper way to cut the monkshood. He couldn't forget the way it felt to hold her, her hair tickling his cheek as he cut the asparagus.

Severus let out an impatient breath. He was spending altogether too much time with Hermione Granger lately. He picked up a pile of essays, and tried to direct his thoughts elsewhere. He had control over his own mind, did he not? He could keep himself from thinking too much on the young woman.

An hour later, he decided, as he put away his quills and ink that he had been successful in his endeavors. He had managed to distract himself from thinking about Miss Granger while doing his work.

If he had imagined her face a few times or thought about the scent of her hair, well, a few thoughts were inescapable. He did, after all, have a lesson to planned for this evening with her, and he couldn't help but think of his students in general when he was busy grading their essays.

oOOoOo

The last slumber party had ended abruptly after they had all hugged. Their hug had served as a reminder of their bond and perhaps even the blood bonding ceremony. The girls had agreed to leave it be for a while and not worry about Voldemort. So it was an unnaturally subdued group of girls that Pansy spoke to while at dinner that evening.

_i'Hello everyone. Sleep well last night?'/i_

Hermione felt the girls' surprise at Pansy's rather i_normal_ /iquestion. It was as if now that they had to think about Pansy seeing Voldemort, they couldn't dwell on the normal everyday things.

i'_Hermione and I talked today and we came up with a plan of action. We will need to meet sometime soon.'/i_

There were collective sounds of relief mixed with anticipation. Everyone was ready to tackle something new.

_i'Wait, you and Hermione came up with a plan? What about us?'/i_ Millicent asked not unexpectedly. She may feel relief in knowing that they had plan, but would still fight to claim some of the leadership and power. Hermione smiled, feeling affection towards the Slytherin girl. Once you got used to them, Slytherins could be as predictable as any Gryffindor.

Hermione pressed her palm in order to make a joke about Millicent being a 'typical Slytherin, when Ginny interrupted her.

_i'Hermione, don't look now, but Harry and Ron are whispering about you.'_

'_What do you mean? Ron has taken his lips off Lavender long enough to whisper about me? I'm shocked.'_

'_Hermione, I'm being serious. They heard that you were seen walking with Pansy today. I think Harry is planning on asking you about it.'_

'_I think I need some time to think up what I will say to him. I'm going to leave now before he can catch me. Talk to you girls later.'_

'_Are you meeting with Snape again?' _

'_Yes, we are working on the Wolfsbane again tonight.'_ /i She smiled in her excitement for the night ahead. i_'I'm going to cut-off my connection. I don't want him to notice me pressing on my palm too much.'_

'_Oh, but we were so looking forward to listening in. In fact, I was just telling Mill that I wished our potions classes were longer.'/i _Daphne said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

i'_Hermione, don't let him ask you anymore questions about me. If he tries, tell him to set up another time for us to meet.'_ /iPansy warned. i_'He knows you are weaker when it comes to hiding things and he may try to get around you.'_

'_I'll be careful, I know I need to be on guard. Bloody Slytherins.'/i_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOSSHGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_iA/N: Well I know this chapter was a bit of a 'transition' chapter, but it needed to be done. More interaction between Hermione and Severus up next. Also, I want to assure you that I am not abandoning this fic. I do want to see it finished. /i_


	16. Chapter 16: Antivenin

**Chapter 16: Antivenin**

_AN: This is a rather un polished chapter, so please excuse the mistakes as my beta hasn't seen it yet._

With her hand already on the doorknob, Hermione knocked once and opened the door. She couldn't quite bring herself to just open it like Pansy had done, but she thought this was a good compromise. Snape stood at a work table and was stirring something in a small cauldron. Upon her entereing, he raised and eyebrow and gestured to the table next to him. A larger cauldron was set on it and there seemed to be an assortment of ingredients on the table.

'A fair attempt, Miss Granger, but your Slytherin friend should have warned you; that particular tactic only works once.' He said with a slight smirk.

She grimaced, but moved to stand at the other table. She noticed that all the Wolfsbane ingredients were set out on the table.

'Miss Granger, tonight you will begin preparing the ingredients. If you finish in time, which is highly unlikely, you can start the first steps in the brewing process. Save the monkshood for last as it will not be affected by a stasis spell and will go bad if you wait too long to use it.

She nodded and picked up the mortar and pestle, she would start by grinding the moonstone.

'What potion are you making, sir?'

He looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments before looking back down at his potion.

'Miss Granger, can I trust you not to speak of this to anyone?'

She bit her lip, looking up from her mortar. She was curious about the potion he was making, but she wasn't sure if she could keep something from the girls. She put her mortar on the desk and discreetly pressed her palm.

'Sir, give me a minute to think about that…'

'_Girls, are you there?'_

'_Hey, you promised you would keep us out of your potions lessons!' _Daphne said in her familiar sarcastic tone.

'_This is important. Snape is working on a potion and he just asked if he could trust me not to tell anyone. I'm worried it may be important for all of us to know, what should I do?'_

'_What do you mean? Lie to him!' _Millicent said.

'_No, I can't. He is trusting me. I cannot lie.'_

Pansy's voice, rose above some of the other suggestions that were called out from various girls.

'_Hermione, keep the connection open and let us listen. You will never have to tell anyone, we will just be eavesdropping.'_

Hermione felt extremely uncomfortable with this idea. Despite her recent 'slytherin lessons,' it seemed she had still retained enough of her Gryffindor sense of honor to feel that omitting the truth could still be lying.

'_Hermione, this is important, I think Pansy is right. Snape doesn't have all the information and we do.'_ Ginny said in an urgent voice.

Severus watched Hermione Granger as she thought about whether or not she could be trusted. He was amazed that she would give it such thought. He watched a myriad of emotions flash across her face. She seemed at once, thoughtful, amused and a little panicked at the thought of him trusting her. It felt like it had been a full five minutes of silent thought before she looked up and met his eyes. She grimaced once and then nodded her head.

'Yes, sir, you can trust me not to speak a word of this to anyone.'

He raised his eyebrows at her, but refrained from asking if she was sure about that…he didn't want to wait another five minutes for her to re-consider.

'Very well, Miss Granger. I am working on an antivenin to a particular snake's bite.'

She gasped as she realized what he was telling her.

'Vold – I mean, the Dark Lord's snake! Youre trying to make an antivenin to Nagini's bite.'

She felt a few stirrings of confusion from some of the girls who did not know about Voldemorts' familiar.

'You are correct, Miss Granger.'

'But, sir, how are you doing it? You can't walk up to Nagini in front of Voldemort and take a sample of her venom.'

'I happen to have a sample of -' She cut him off before he could finish, as she figured out what he was probably using.

'You have Mr. Weasley's blood from when he was bitten!'

He nodded.

She vaguely heard some of the girls as they shot questions at Ginny.

'Does He use Nagini a lot then?' She asked quietly. Snape didn't have to ask who 'he' was.

'More and more, in the recent years, Miss Granger. I believe an antivenin could come in handy as we get closer to a final confrontation.'

'How do you hope to administer it? Will it simply be a potion someone drinks or intravenously like the Muggles do?' She picked up her mortar and pestle, and decided to continue grinding the moonstone.

Snape felt a glimmer of excitement that she could discuss something like this intelligently with him. Antivenin, as Muggles used, was not something that most of his colleagues were familiar with. He silently cast a stasis spell on his potion and turned to give her a little more attention.

'Actually, I hope to create a potion that can be drunk before someone is bitten. Perhaps something that will create an immunity to the venom in her bite.'

OOOooooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was two hours later when Hermione realized she had almost finished preparing all of her ingredients for the wolfsbane. She had quietly worked while they had discussed his thoughts on creating his antivenin. Their conversation had easily moved on from the specifcs of his antivenin to his revelation about Louis Pasteur, a scientist Hermione had heard of as a child. Pasteur, who was famous for discovering the use of antibodies to cure humans who were infected with diseases like rabies, had actually been a wizard and Potions Master. Snape had instantly given her a brief history on some of the potions Pasteur had been responsible for before he began working within the Muggle scientific community. Most wizards had lost interest in Pasteur's work after he moved into the Muggle community, but Snape had researched everything he had done and had read a number of his works and study notes.

Hermione was amazed at how much they had talked about. It had been around the time that Louis Pasteur was brought into the conversation that she had been reminded to press her palm and cut the girls out of the conversation. She had quite forgotten about them until Daphne spoke up.

'_Hermione, none of us care, take us out of this conversation. We have all the information we need thank you!'_

That had quickly been followed by a chorus of agreement from the other girls. Hermione had not bothered to reply, but simply pressed her palm and kept on listening to Professor Snape. She had completely lost track of time while they had talked. Now she was down to her last ingredient, the monkshed. So she waited until there was a suitable lull in their conversation and held up the jar.

'Professor, I only have this left. Should I start preparing it or wait until next time?' It had gotten quite late while they had talked and it was undoubtably close to curfew.

Snape blinked once, which may have indicated some surprise on his part at the lateness of the hour, but Hermione wasn't sure.

'Ah, I believe we should wait until next time to begin the brewing process. You should go back to your dormitory now. He flicked his wand and summoned a number of vials and jars to her work table. Hermione quickly began to fill them with her prepared ingredients, labeling them carefully and sealing them with a stasis spell. Only when she had put everything in its proper place did she look up at him.

He had gone back to his work table and begun working on his antivenin potion again and seemed engrossed in cutting up an ingredient that reminded Hermione of ginger root.

'Er…I quite enjoyed our conversation this evening, Professor.'

He glanced up at her but didn't respond.

'I mean, it was nice to talk with someone who could…it was nice to talk about… I don't know many people who understand everything that I want to talk about.' She finally said, hoping that she was able to convey what she was feeling.

He put his stir stick down and looked at her reluctantly.

'Indeed, Miss Granger. I do understand what you mean.' He said in a low voice, as if he was revealing a dire secret. 'I enjoyed our conversation as well.' She beamed at him as she hefted her satchel over her shoulder and prepared to leave.

'Miss Granger. I will see you in two days time to begin the preparation of the wolfsbane. I also need to meet with you and Miss Parkinson as soon as possible. Can you make it tomorrow evening?'

'Um..' She swung her arms behind her back and pressed her palm. ' I think Pansy is free tomorrow night. I don't remember her saying she had anything scheduled.'

'_Yeah, Hermione I am free. I can meet with him tomorrow. Now let me go to sleep, I have a quiz in the morning.'_

Pansy's voice drifted into her head. She pressed her palm again to disconnect the other girl before looking smiling up at Professor Snape.

'I'm sure that if she has anything scheduled that she can re-arrange thigns to meet with you tomorrow.'

He narrowed his eyes at her and considered her for a moment before nodding once.

'Very well, Miss Granger. I will see you tomorrow.'

OOoOOoooOO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus watched Hermione leave before flicking his wand and cleaning the various ingredients he had been using. His potion would need to simmer overnight. He felt rather disconcerted when he realized how late it had grown. He had been so engrossed in their conversation, to the exclusion of all else. He shouldn't allow that to happen again, but, it had been so refreshing.

Severus couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed a conversation so much. Not one of his colleagues could speak intelligently about Muggle Science, the way Hermione Granger could. Even Dumbledore, as if the old bastard would ever speak pleasantly with Snape, didn't bother keeping up with what Muggle Scientists were discovering.

He felt the familiar, bitter ache well up in his chest at the thought of Dumbledore before he quickly tried to drag his mind from that subject it. He wouldn't dwell on that issue tonight. He warded the lab and moved towards his private quarters, looking forward to his nightly drink. No doubt the house elves would already have it ready and enspelled to remain warm until he could get to his rooms. He would read more from that book, _The Curse of Avalon_. Tonight he would concentrate on Hermione and Pansy Parkinson; tomorrow could prove very interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OOOOO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Hermione quietly began climbing throught the portrait, hoping that most of Gryffindor had already left the common room for their dorms. She wanted to go up to her room, close the curtains and think about the past two hours. It had been incredible, speaking with Professor Snape as if she were his equal. He had really listed to her suggestions and spoke to her like an adult, rather than a child who was beneath his notice.

Hermione heard a throught clear as the portrait swung shut behind her and she looked up. Apparently she would not be so lucky tonight, she thought, as her eyes met the twin glares of Harry and Ron. The common room was empty, but both boys had clearly been waiting up for her. She stifled the urge to sigh as she slowely walked towards them.

'Hermione, we need to talk to you.' Harry said, pointing to a chair that was set up exactly opposite the couch they both sat on. Hermione chose to sit on the couch instead, forcing him and Ron to turn awkwardly in order to face her.

'Yes, Harry? What about?' She said as she pressed her palm, hoping some of the girls would still be awake.

'We heard about what you did!' Ron said, loudly before Harry could answer her. She met Ron's eyes and scowled at him. She did not feel like doing this right now.

'And what is it I did, Ronald?' She asked curtly.

'We heard about you walking with Pansy Parkinson.'

'Oh, and who did you hear that from?'

'Hermione, Dean and Neville both saw you walking with her today.' Harry said in a low voice. 'We just want to know what is going on. She is a Slytherin and she is Draco's girlfriend.'

'She isnt' Draco's girlfriend, Harry. They aren't really anything to each other anymore.'

'But she's a Slytherin, Hermione! How could you hang out with that lot!' Ron said, his ears were bright red.

'That doesn't change anything, Pansy has always been horrible to you. How could you be friends with her?' Harry asked, acting as if she had betrayed him.

She sighed. She didn't want to lie to Harry, he was still one of her best friends, but she knew she couldn't tell him everything. She would have to be careful about what she said.

'Harry, let me explain.' She said, not bothering to acknowledge Ron.

'Pansy and I have been partners in Defense and we naturally have to talk some of the time. She's different than I thought she would be. I mean, she's smart. You know she probably has top marks in all her classes.

'She and I have gotten to know each other lately, that is all. We have even studied together for some of our classes and we just decided to take a walk yesterday.'

'She's probably a death eater.' Ron said indignantly.

Hermione felt a wave of anger well in her chest when she looked at Ron. She couldn't believe he had the audacity to speak to her like this. She flicked her wand, conjuring up a yellow canary and left it hovering at her shoulder. She felt a spark of satisfaction as Ron tried to shrink into the sofa cushions.

'She is not a death eater, I have seen her arms. Listen to me for a minute, both of you.' She stood up to try and emphasize her point, 'just because someone is in Slytherin, it does not make them automatically evil. Pansy may even end up being an ally for us. If we can become friends with some of the Slytherins, it may eventually help us in this war. Now I am not saying that Pansy and I are going to sit up all night a paint each others toe-nails or anything,' She heard a giggle in the back of her head – some of the girls had started listening and were amused at Hermione irony; just last week she had been painting Pansy's toe-nails as they were experimenting with a new glamour, 'but we are becoming friends. She is not as bad as you might think, you have no right to dictate who I choose to become friends with.'

Hermione sat back down after tirad and tried to smooth her hand over her hair. It tended to get rather staticky when she was angry and she could feel that her face had grown hot.

Both boys were quiet; Ron kept his eyes on her canary, still bobbing near her shoulder, but Harry was looking at her thoughtfully.

'Okay, Hermione. You're probably right, I mean some of the Slytherins might not be evil and maybe Pansy really wants to be your friend. You know we just don't want to see you get hurt.'

'Harry, I appreciate that, but I'm a big girl and can take care of myself.'

He held his hands up, palms forward as if in supplication. 'I know that. I'm sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusions here. Just be careful.'

'I will be, Harry. Thank you for worrying about me.' She said, feeling a little softer towards him as their conversation was winding down.

'I'm rather tired, I will see you boys in the morning.' She said standing up. Harry reached over and gave her a quick hug.

'Er… Hermione,' Ron said in a hesitant voice. She raised her eyebrows at him.

'I'm worried about you too,' he said in a rushed voice. 'I mean… er… I know things haven't been, well…er… your still my friend.'

Hermione couldn't help but smile.

She heard Ginny say in a rather catty tone of voice, _'he's getting really tired of lavender!'_

'Your still my friend too, Ron,' she said. She suddenly remembered that his birthday was coming up in a few days. She wouldn't be getting him a present, but she could at least try to be a little nicer. It wasn't as if she were still jealous, she had moved on to even more impossible wants and needs. She stifled the urge to grimace as her thoughts moved once again back to her Professor.

'Could you…? Well, um, the canary?' He said, pointing to her left shoulder where the canary still bobbed up and down.

She rolled her eyes and flicked her wand, banishing it.

'I'm going to sleep now. I will see you in the morning.'

She heard a few girls call sleepy goodnights as she pressed her palm and made her way up to her dormitory.

_AN: I know its been far too long between chapters. I'm a little worried about my plot bunny, he seems a bit sick lately. I will try to be better about getting these out to you all, I appreciate that you have been patient and stuck with it so far!_


	17. Chapter 17: More Conversation

**Chapter 17: More Conversation**

_iAN: see disclaimer in earlier chapters/i_

Hermione was still smiling at the next day as she and Pansy made their way to Snape's office. She was glad she had spoken with Harry and Ron the night before. It had taken a weight off her shoulders to talk with them. True, she hadn't been completely candid, but at least she was could be sure about the longevity of their friendship. She remembered that Ron's birthday was coming up, and maybe she would get him a present after all, she thought. She didn't feel like things were back to normal with Ron or anything, but she felt like that was at least an attainable possibility.

Pansy stopped in front of her before they reached Snape's door and pressed her palm. Hermione did the same and they greeted the other girls. They had decided that they would let Snape in on their plan for Pansy to go into hiding. They would also go into some detail about their practice of occlumency and legilimancy and they were to say that there were other girls involved. Nobody would be named as of yet, not everyone was ready to trust a professor who had been nasty and cruel for almost six years.

Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself. She trusted Snape with her life, but she was nervous about how much they would be revealing tonight. After the entire school term of not telling anyone, it felt wrong to give away so much information in one sitting.

When they entered his offices, he already had tea thing set up, Hermione noticed that once again he had ordered hot chocolate for her and Pansy, complete with tiny marshmallows that reminded her of her mum.

The professor was already sipping something out of his cup and Hermione wondered what he was drinking. She imagined that since he was such a talented potions professor he blended some of his own teas and they were probably amazing.

She was on the verge of asking him for some tea when Pansy sent her a thought.

i'_Hermione, just drink the damn cocoa and lets not get side-tracked.'/i_

Hermione sullenly picked up a cup and took a sip of the cocoa.

'Miss Granger, Miss Parkinson, Thank you for meeting with me this evening, we have a lot we need to go over.'

'We have a lot to tell you as well, Professor.' Pansy said, as she too picked up a cup and cradled it in her hands.

'No trading questions again, than, tonight.' He said giving them both an inquiring look.

'No professor, I think we are done with games for now.'

'Very well,' he said, with a slight shrug. 'I would like you to start. But I will warn you, I will not tolerate anymore lies. You will tell me about the other girls that are involved before we end this meeting.'

Hermione didn't quite gasp in surprise, but she let out a loud sigh. It was enough to show him that he had surprised her.

'Sir,' Pansy was still the only one who had spoken to him. 'We will tell you all the details about thei _other/i_ girls, except for their names and houses.'

'Miss Parkinson, I must insist that you tell me their names as well, someone has to see to their protection.'

'They are seeing to their own protection, as are we, professor and they do not want you to know their names yet.'

He raised his eyebrows at this. 'You allow them to tell you what you can and can't do? Not very Slytherin of you.' He murmured.

Hermione smiled. He had inadvertently reminded her and the other girls about their Slytherin lessons. Hermione could hear the other girls as they thought about the fact that Pansy was learning Gryffindor or maybe even Hufflepuff traits.

_iThat loyalty is Hufflepuff all the way. Good show Pansy! _ /iSusan said, causing Hermione to let out a short chuckle. She tried to cover it up by clearing her throat and turning innocent eyes towards Snape. He wasn't paying attention to her, though. He was scowling at Pansy with narrowed eyes.

'Nevertheless, Sir. I will not break their confidence and neither will Hermione. We do have other items to discuss if you would like to move on.' She raised her eyebrows expectantly at him.

He waved his hand impatiently, indicating that she should start talking.

The girls had decided that Hermione would cover the newest details about their experiences with the other girls, including the details of their Occlumency and Illigemency practices, while Pansy would cover their plan to put her in hiding.

Hermione began. 'As we told you before, sir, we met that first night back here in the room of requirement…'

Without realizing it was happening, Pansy joined her in the telling of their story. Again, Snape was reminded of a carefully choreographed dance, the way they worked together.

They told him of their meetings and slumber parties with the other girls, but kept secret the location of where they met for these events. They didn't tell him about the journal, but rather made it sound as if their research came from a number of different books found in the library. One thing the girls had been in agreement about was that the journal was for their eyes only. They would not tell Snape about its existence at any time. They also told him of their blood bonding, but did not reveal about the fact that they were linked telepathically. Because he was listening for it carefully, Snape knew when Miss Granger first started to falter, halting the rhythm of their tale. She was telling him that they had tested their Occlumency on certain people whom they knew might use legilimency on them. As she said this, an image came rushing back to Snape, making his eyes open wider. He was remembering that last time he had used Occlumency on her. He held up on hand to stop her story.

'Am I to understand that you tested your occlumency skills on professors?' His voice had a harsh quality to it.

Hermione felt her face turn red as she nodded, 'Yes, sir.' She looked down, refusing to meet his eyes.

Pansy wasn't trying to hide her grin as she smugly explained the situation to Snape.

'We had to project a picture that seemed unusual for us, in order to watch everyone's reaction… in order to make sure that it was believable.'

'Indeed.' He said, looking at Hermione. 'I think I understand.'

Hermione tried to make herself appear smaller in her seat, she wished she was anywhere except for where she was right now. She heard a few giggles in her head from the other girls.

_i'Hermione, its actually rather funny. Don't let him see how embarrassed you are.' /i_Tracy said, still giggling.

_i'Yeah, come on Hermione, you are making it so obvious right now. Don't give him the satisfaction.'/i _Pansy said, glancing at the other girl as Snape scowled at her.

Hermione straightened up in her seat and flicked her eyes briefly towards Snape. He was still staring straight at her, a calculating look in his eyes, making her feel like a particularly nasty potions ingredient. She was surprised that he didn't refer to her rather embarrassing experiment of Occlumency, but merely picked up his cup and took one long sip before leaning back in his seat.

'I will need to test out your skills at another time. Imaging… situations that may cause shock value is not enough to know if you can stand up to the strength of a death eater.'

'I managed just fine with Miss Lestrange and you, Professor.' Pansy said in a low voice.

'Yes, I remember Miss Parkinson. I also recall that I could tell that something was off. You will do fine against the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange. Her skills at Legilimency are dismal. But against the likes of the Dark Lord… How do you think you would fare then?' He raised one eyebrow in inquiry.

Pansy blanched, but didn't say anything.

'We will come back to this and I will test both of your abilities at a later date.' He said in a curt tone of voice. Neither girl objected, as he had proven his point quite well.

'I would like some more details of your blood bonding.' He said, abruptly changing the subject.

'We have said all we can, sir.' Hermione said in a steady voice.

'How did you learn how to perform a proper bonding, Miss Granger?'

'Research, Sir.'

He opened his mouth to say something further, but Pansy interrupted.

'Sir, we have said all we can about that. We are bonded and we are sisters, that is what you need to know.'

'The book I have been reading speculates on whether or not Morgan la Fey performed a bonding with the other witches of Avalon. How did you know to take that step?' He asked, raising one eyebrow.

Later, Hermione would reflect on the moment with pride because she managed to keep her face completely blank when he said this.

'We decided to perform the bonding because we love each other and we have to trust each other, we cannot tell you anything further.'

He furrowed his brow at this and she thought he would say something more about it, but he stayed quiet.

'Sir, in addition to our Occlumency and Legilimens we have started to work on glamours and defense spells.' Pansy said, effectively moving the conversation forwards.

'and the next thing we must tell you Professor is that we have come up with a plan for Pansy's situation.' Hermione said smoothly, catching up with Pansy and continuing their dance.

****************************************************OOOOOOOOOO

'It is time we end this conversation. It is well past curfew and I must get you to your dormitories.'

Snape said, standing up. They had been discussing the details and logistics of hiding Miss Parkinson away for well over an hour.

Snape had been surprised and pleased that the two young women had realized the need to hide Miss Parkinson away. It would not do to send her back to her family after all that had happened. The Dark Lord was sure to become aware of her duplicity. The three of them had spent the last two hours planning her escape and subsequent hiding out for the summer. Snape was tasked with finding her a suitable muggle dwelling before the end of the school year. The girls promised to provide the money he needed to make the purchase of said dwelling. How they would get that kind of money was another detail they refused to divulge to him, he thought in frustration. He really hated being kept in the dark.

As they had done before, Snape escorted both women to their dormitories since they had stayed past curfew. Hermione sent a quick goodnight out to Pansy and all of the girls as she pressed her palm and cut the connection. There had been something that had been bothering her for a while and she figured that now was as good a time as any to ask her professor.

'Sir, Can I ask you a question?'

He snorted softly. 'Miss Granger, I hardly think I can prevent _you_ from asking a question.'

'Well, Sir, its just…you remember when Pansy and I had that meeting with you and Pansy opened the door without knocking.'

'I believe that was a statement. I don't hear a question in there, Miss Granger.'

'I was coming to that…Sir, you had just arrived in your office via floo and you were really angry. You mentioned a bloody old bastard… I am assuming you were referring to Dumbledore?'

Snape's face had become carefully blank and he didn't' respond to her inquiry.

'Sir, I was just wondering if you could tell me… what it is that Dumbledore is asking of you that is so impossible?' She said in a low voice.

It seemed like quite a long time before Snape said anything as they continued to walk towards the Gryffindor Tower.

'Miss Granger, you are very observant.' He paused, as if thinking about his words. 'You are right… Dumbledore is a bloody old bastard; although I was not speaking literally, his parents were married.'

Hermione smiled uncertainly_,i did Professor Snape just make a joke?_'/i

'As to what I was angry about that evening… Well, Miss Granger, I will not tell you.'

'But, Sir, if its connected to our situation…'

'You and your cohorts, Miss Granger, are not ready to trust me absolutely, am I right?'

'Yes, sir… I mean, this is really important and we cannot be too careful.'

'Well, Miss Granger. I feel the same way. Perhaps at some point you will learn about this situation, and perhaps, sometime I may learn more details about yours, but not now. Not tonight.'

Hermione sighed. She wanted to argue, but, strangely enough, she could understand where he was coming from. She would have to show him a certain level of trust before he trusted her with his information.

They had arrived at the portrait of the fat lady and Hermione turned towards her professor and looked up into his eyes.

'I think I can understand that.'

He down looked at her for a long moment before slowly reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder.

'Miss Granger, you have grown up this year and I commend you for your maturity. Please continue to tread very carefully.'

He squeezed her shoulder once before turning and stalking away, his cloak billowing behind him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo

i_A/N: Sorry about the wait on this chapter, unfortunately I cannot promise to be any faster, as I am trying to be in school and work full time. Not too much extra time on my hands right now./_i


	18. Chapter 18: Voldemort's New Name

Chapter 18

**Voldemorts New Name**

Hermione lay in bed and smiled up at the ceiling. She couldn't stop thinking about the feel of her professor's hand on her shoulder. His gesture had been reassuring and he had complimented her. _'I commend you for your maturity.'_ She couldn't stop thinking of him.

Pansy's voice sounded in her head and she quickly pushed all thoughts of her professor behind her occlumency wall.

'_Hermione, we need to get all the girls together soon and talk about everything that has happened.' _

Pansy had evidently been trying to communicate that thought to the other girls because Hermione heard the girls confused thoughts as they slowly tried to wake up.

'_Yes we do need to meet. I can't tomorrow; I am working on the wolfsbane with Professor Snape. What about a slumber party this weekend?'_

She heard sleepy agreements mixed in with a few complaints from the other girls.

'_Yes, we can have a slumber party; now let us get some sleep already!'_ Susan complained.

'_Goodnight Ladies!'_ Pansy thought, before she ended the connection.

Hermione knocked twice before opening the door and entering the lab. Just as before, Snape stood over a large cauldron, more than likely working on his antivenin potion again. He looked up as she entered and gestured towards the table next to him, already set up with a cauldron and the ingredients she had prepared two nights ago. She smiled as she set her bag down and moved to her work space.

'Good evening, sir.'

'Miss Granger.'

'I only have to prepare the monkshood and then I will be ready to begin the potion. I am eager to finally begin.' She confessed.

'Indeed. Prepare the monkshood and tell me before you begin the base. It is simple enough, but vital to the overall efficacy.'

Hermione nodded as she picked up her knife and began preparing the monkshood, using the technique he had taught her.

'Are you working on your antivenin again, sir?'

'Yes, it is nearly completed.' He answered in a low voice. 'If it proves successful, I will make extra supplies and keep them in my office, rather than the storeroom.'

Hermione looked at him with a frown. Why was he telling her where he would keep his supply of potion?

'Sir?'

'Miss Granger, please remember what I have told you. If I am not around, and you need antivenin. I will keep it in the defense office.'

He was looking her straight in the eye as he said this and she knew what he was saying was important.

'Is there a chance you will not be around?'

He didn't answer her. He smirked and looked back down at his cauldron, stirring once.

'Sir?'

'Miss Granger?' He said parroting her tone of voice. She couldn't believe it, _was he mocking her?_

She sighed, realizing she wouldn't get a straight answer out of him.

'If you are not around, sir, how will I enter the office? Won't I need a password?'

'You might.' He said, that same smirk still on his face. She couldn't resist smiling back at him. He was certainly acting different tonight. She thought back to when she had entered the room ten minutes ago. Ten whole minutes and he hadn't scowled once.

As if he had read her thoughts, his smirk turned into a scowl and he looked back down into his cauldron.

'If you are finished with that monkshood, you should begin the base now.' He said as he added another ingredient to his potion.

Severus glanced at Hermione frequently as she concentrated on the base for her potion. It would take her all evening to complete and she was absorbed in her task. He contemplated the picture she made as she silently counted her clockwise stirs. She had pulled her curls back in a messy knot on top of her head, exposing a slender neck and slightly sloping shoulders. Her face was in profile to him and he could see the slight upturn at the end of her nose, her lips were pursed in concentration. As he watched her, Severus was surprised to realize that he found her quite attractive; he enjoyed looking at her. The knowledge of that brought to the forefront of his mind, just how often his thoughts had turned to Hermione Granger in the past few weeks. He had spent entirely too much time thinking about her, even given the special 'project' he was helping her and Pansy Parkinson accomplish. He sighed, as he watched her now… he was fascinated with the witch.

He abruptly turned back to his potion to add the final two ingredients, his mind was racing. What was he to with his growing regard towards Miss Granger? If he was honest with himself, he knew it had been a long time coming. He had been attracted to her for some weeks now. It was wholly inappropriate; she was his student and a Gryffindor, regardless of what she seemed to be learning from her newest acquaintance. It shouldn't make a difference that he was noticing how attractive the young woman really was…should it?

He thought about the last time she had been in this room working on her wolfsbane potion. He had enjoyed their discussion and had been looking forward to seeing her again. He could talk with her in a way that he couldn't with most of his colleagues and he had been almost excited about he prospect of having someone whom he could call a friend.

'Professor...?' She interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up at her and raised a brow in inquiry.

'I am about to add the doxy wings and was wondering if you would like to take a look before I did so.' She said, gesturing towards her cauldron.

He nodded and cast a silent stasis spell on his cauldron; he wasn't getting anything done at any rate this evening. He moved up behind her and peered into the cauldron over her shoulder.

It was the perfect color and consistency; he hadn't expected anything less from Miss Granger. He rested his hand lightly on her shoulder as he examined the potion and nodded.

'You may go ahead and add the doxy wings, this is adequate.' He said. He hesitated for a minute, leaving his hand on her shoulder. Before he could think better of it, he squeezed her shoulder once, causing her to stiffen slightly in surprise. She turned her head to look at him. Her face was inches away from his own and he realized he had been holding his breath.

Her eyes locked onto his.

'Sir?'

'Miss Granger…I …have enjoyed working with you these last few weeks.'

He let his hand drop and took a step away from her, intending to turn back to his potion, when she grabbed his hand.

'I have too, professor. Er, I've enjoyed working with you as well, I mean. I also want to thank you for helping me and Pansy. I think we would be quite lost without you.'

'Miss – Hermione, things are going to happen soon. Terrible things, everything is going to change.'

She nodded. 'I know, sir. Dumbledore has asked you to do something.' She said, remembering they time Pansy and her had walked in on him and saw him return in the floo.

'It's something you don't want to do. But it's a big deal, isn't it?'

She stepped a little closer to him and tilted her head back to look at him. 'I know you won't tell me what it is, but, if I can, I would like to help you.'

He lifted his hand and let it cup her cheek, before sliding it back into her hair. He fought with himself as he gazed into her brown eyes. She was so kind and compassionate. _Why shouldn't he be allowed to have a few moments of happiness? Given what he had been commissioned to do, why couldn't he act on his desires, just this once?_ He thought, feeling reckless. _It wasn't as if Dumbledore could fire him at this junction…_

He realized though, that this was a losing battle. Regardless of what he felt about Dumbledore and about the task that had been set before him, he couldn't just let himself go. He took a step back. He would not act on his desires tonight.

Before he could say anything to the girl standing before him, she took the decision out of his hands. She went up on her toes and placed a light kiss on the corner of his mouth. She pulled back with red cheeks, looking up at him and gave him a shy smile. He was stunned. She had kissed him.

'I need to add the doxy wings.' She said, before turning back to her cauldron.

Snape didn't say anything, but turned back to his cauldron. He made a show of flipping some pages in his notebook and looking at his notes, but he wasn't really seeing anything.

He was still too surprised by her kiss.

* * *

"I kissed Professor Snape.'

Hermione announced out loud to her friends and then winced. She had meant to ease into that confession, not blurt it out like that. The room abruptly became silent, all discussion ceasing in one moment. She looked back into the stunned faces of the girls, all dressed in pajamas for their sleepover and repeated in a quieter voice.

'I kissed him, the other day, during our wolfsbane session.'

'You…kissed. Snape?' Pansy said with a whisper.

Hermione bit down on her bottom lip and chewed furiously while she nodded.

'But, why?' Ginny said, her voice incredulous.

'Oh.' Daphne said in a quiet voice. 'This is going to be good. Tell us the story Hermione.'

'Why would anyone want to kiss Snape?' Ginny muttered again. It didn't make any sense.

If Hermione wasn't so nervous, she probably would have laughed at the expression on everyone's face. Well, everyone except for Luna, who's expression seemed to communicate that she was either not at all surprised by this revelation or not even listening.

'Well, it just sort of happened.' Hermione started to say, only to be interrupted by Millicent.

'No, nothing like that 'just sort of just happens'. You kissed Professor Snape, the head of Slytherin… it wasn't an accident.' She said with her customary frankness.

'I know.' Hermione held up her hands, palms out. 'Let me tell my story.

My attraction for him, just sort of came on slowly. I mean, Pansy and I have been meeting with him frequently and I've been working on this potion with him and just spending a lot more time with him. Additionally, this year has taught me that with Slytherins, you can't judge a book by its cover. So, I don't know, I realized I liked him a little while ago… do you remember me looking really shocked and surprised in Defense class, Pansy? You asked me about it and I said I would tell you later.'

Pansy thought for a minute and then nodded.

'Well, that's when I realized that I had feelings for him. I know that nothing can come of it, obviously, but those feelings aren't going away. They just keep growing, I mean, we had the most amazing conversation about antivenins and Louis Pastuer the other day… it's rare that I can talk like that with another person… I mean, now I have you girls and that helps but to discuss that sort of thing with an intelligent man…I…it was… amazing.'

She paused, waiting for someone, perhaps Millicent to make a comment, but the girls remained silent.

'So, he was looking over my shoulder, checking my potion and he squeezed my shoulder and told me he enjoyed working with me.' Jarilyn gasped at that, but remained silent. 'So I told him I did too and I think I had grabbed his hand when I said it… I'm not sure, it's all in a blur, it happened so fast. But, he cupped my face…his hand felt so good and he smelled so nice… like sandalwood with that hint of chocolate.' She sighed as she remembered standing with him in the lab. 'When he dropped his hand and took a step back, I don't know what came over me, but I just kissed him.'

'What did he do when you kissed him?' Padma asked in a soft voice.

'Well, after I kissed him, I was so embarrassed… I just turned back to my potions and pretended like everything was normal. He did the same… He didn't even acknowledge the kiss, just went back to work…What do you suppose that means?' She said, her voice taking on a panicky edge. 'What must he think of me? How could I just go and kiss my professor like that. I am such an idiot!'

Pansy was the first person to react; she laughed.

'Hermione, this is priceless. You, the Gryffindor know-it-all has a crush on the head of slytherin!'

'I can't believe you kissed him!' Ginny said. 'I can't believe you're still alive to tell us about it!'

'What am I going to do?' Hermione practically wailed.

'You don't have to do anything.' Daphne said, her voice thoughtful. 'I think he is attracted to you.'

There was a short pause before most of the girls in the room started laughing, obviously thinking that Daphne was joking.

'Yeah, sure, Daphne… maybe Hermione should just ask him to go to Hogsmead with her on our next Hogsmead weekend. They could go to Madame Puddifoots.' Tracey said, mockingly.

Hermione smiled at the image of Severus Snape being rained upon with pink confetti while drinking tea at Madame Puddifoots.

'Very funny, Tracey,' Daphne said. 'But, just think about it for a minute,' She continued. 'He didn't do anything about it, he didn't yell, he didn't give her detention or take points…I think he was probably surprised, but pleased that she kissed him.'

A few girls tried to lend their opinions to the matter, resulting in a din of voices, all incomprehensible.

'Hey!' Hermione said, trying to be heard above the others. They quieted down and looked at her.

'It doesn't matter, you guys.' She shrugged. 'I don't know if he liked it or not, we do seem to be getting to be… friends, at least, what with him helping us and finding a place for Pansy. But, we are in a war, its not like a romance could flourish now, especially given his role in all of this. Plus, I'm his student.'

Millicent shrugged, 'Being his student doesn't matter. It's happened before.'

Hermione's mouth dropped open. 'It's happened before? You mean, Snape and a student?'

'No, not Snape,' Tracey piped in, 'But there are stories about Slytherin students… rumors about different students who have had affairs with teachers in the past. Not any of the current professors…I mean, they are all pretty old (except for Snape)…Mostly it's been somewhat of a 'don't ask, don't tell' kind of a thing, as long as the student is of age.'

'You are of age, Hermione.' Millicent said with a leer.

'Don't ask, don't tell?!' Ginny piped in, 'That's amazing, how come we haven't heard about this?'

Pansy shrugged, 'You're in Gryffindor. I doubt any Gryffindor students have ever been involved with a professor…well, not until Hermione!' She said with a laugh.

'Well,' said Hermione, 'still feeling surprise at what the Slytherin girls had told her, 'There are still too many things to consider; the war, the fact that he is a death eater spy…This is professor Snape we are talking about!'

'Bloody Hell. Stupid bastard dork- ass- whore lord Voldemort!' Pansy let out in a voice full of hostility, pounding her fist on the ground. She stood and walked to the other side of the room, breathing hard.

The girls were quiet for a moment, looking at Pansy with sad eyes. They all knew she was thinking of Draco and not the Professor or Hermione. She had really loved Draco and it was clear that he was working for Voldemort now. He was truly lost to her, given her current allegiances.

After a few moments of awkward silence, it was up to Hermione to bring Pansy out of her dark mood.

'Dork-ass-whore?' She said with raised eyebrows. 'I can honestly say I have never heard that expression before. I do think it a fairly good description… except for the whore part… would we call Voldemort a whore?' She said in a tone of voice that implied that this was an issue that deserved a great deal of study and research.

Pansy visibly relaxed as she smiled and then chuckled at Hermione's comment. Soon the other girls joined in and it was decided that from then on they would refer to Voldemort as dork-ass-whore.

_AN: Dorkass Hore was a girl who was accused of being a witch in the Salem Witch Trials. My sister came across the name while doing some research and the insult was born. I couldn't help but apply it to Voldemort. _

_Please note that, as always, these chapters have not been beta'd and the beta'd story is available on The Petulant Poetess._


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